With one such piece coming along every 90 years or so, could the next revolutionary piece be right around the corner?  Or could it already exist?  While predicting future musical tastes is a dangerous game, in this blog I will point out an existing piece that I hope becomes a musical revolution for the 21st century…

…and that piece is Christopher Rouse’s Flute Concerto.

Why?  Because in the piece, Rouse had the simple audacity to use whatever techniques were most effective at eliciting each moment in the emotional contour.  So there are moments that are extremely simple, incorporating tonal harmonies and clear melodies.  And there are moments that are extremely complex, using dense counterpoint and extreme dissonance.  All of these musical ideas are placed into a logical long-term form that creates forward momentum throughout the piece and a clear sense of completion at the end.  The resulting music is extremely effective at communicating emotion.

Arguably, this is a departure from previous trends in new concert music.  Serialism and related genres are built, at least in part, on the premise of rejecting tonality.  Minimalism is built on the premise of rejecting complexity.  Rouse seemingly rejects nothing in his concerto, instead being willing to use any technique that would maximize the emotional impact of the music.

What might one call this compositional approach?¹  It is not modern era music, romantic era music, or classical era music.  It is not minimalism nor serialism.  It is some conglomeration that incorporates great ideas from all of the above.

One might call it the aggregation of best practices.  It seems the music begins with an emotional storyline, then uses whatever techniques are most effective for communicating that emotional storyline.  So if the music is about love, then triadic harmonies and diatonic melodies are appropriate.  If the music is about heartbreaking grief, then extreme dissonance is appropriate.  If the music is building tension, then dense and complex counterpoint is appropriate.  And so on…

Notably, this seems a logical approach for the 21st century.  One could make the argument that the 20th century was about experimentation—at times experimentation for the sake of experimentation.  What does one do after experimenting?  Well, it would be logical to pause, evaluate what worked and what did not work, and then aggregate the best ideas.

It is my hope that the 21st century becomes a century of aggregating best practices.  Such an ideological movement would cherry-pick the best techniques developed over the centuries, without feeling an obligation to include or exclude any one particular technique, harmony or structure, and combine them all to create something inherently new.  Such a century could produce some intensely emotional music, and if such a century came to pass, the Rouse Flute Concerto could be viewed as the opening salvo.

Now…  I suspect you may want to hear it.  If you are currently in southern California, Saint Louis, or Connecticut, then you are in luck.  The Saint Louis Symphony is currently touring southern California with the piece on their program.  They have March performances scheduled in Orange County and Santa Barbara, followed by two performances in St. Louis (Friday, Saturday).  The Eastern Connecticut Symphony is also performing the piece in March.

If those locations don’t work for you, then the score is available from Boosey & Hawkes and recordings are available from the Houston Symphony and Stockholm Philharmonic.

Christopher Rouse wrote his Flute Concerto in 1993.  The piece is cast across five movements that are roughly symmetrical.  Movements 1 and 5 are simple and pristine, using beautiful triads in strings and a wandering flute melody hovering on top.  Movements 2 and 4 are larger in instrumentation, fast in tempo, and more complex in counterpoint.  Movement 3 is again slow.  It combines both tonal and atonal techniques.  Movement 3 is incredibly sad, memorializing James Bulger (the two-year-old English boy who was abducted and murdered by two ten-year-olds).  The original program note is available online here.

Three Tips for the MIDI Orchestrator

Tip #1 — Study Scores and Recordings of the Traditional Orchestra

Even if you write for orchestral samples as the final product, it’s extremely beneficial to study traditional orchestral scores.  While this has many benefits, three that come to mind are:

-  Studying scores lets you learn from past composers.  Stated most simply, people have been writing music for orchestra for centuries.  Many composers have already come up with some wonderful ideas.  For us, there’s no sense reinventing the wheel and studying scores teaches a new composer what past composers have already figured out.

-  Studying scores trains you to think of the orchestra as a complete unit.  While looking at a full score, you can readily see how all the instruments are working together–which instruments have the harmony, the melody, the countermelody, and so on.  It’s often harder to visualize the “big picture” when simply improvising at the keyboard one sample at a time.

-  Studying scores helps the MIDI orchestrator avoid “impossible possibilities.”  By this, I mean that there are things the samples can do that the real instruments can not do.  Even if these impossible possibilities sound good in the studio, they will sound less like an actual orchestra and should be avoided when recreating the sound of an orchestra is the goal.

Tip #2 — Consider how and when the samples and the acoustic instruments behave differently.

Acoustic instruments and the samples of those instruments are not the same exact thing.  They are both incredible tools, but at times they will behave differently.  It is worth the time of every MIDI orchestrator to consider what those differences are and how they will affect compositional decisions.

While this is an incomplete list, some factors to consider are below:

-  It takes no effort for a violinist to switch articulations, meaning they can alternate between staccato and tenuto with complete ease.  This is also true while playing piano.

While MIDI sequencing, changing sample types requires an extra step, be it adding a key switch or switching to a new track.  This creates an incentive for the MIDI orchestrator to refrain from changing articulations–an incentive that generally does not exist in the world of acoustic instruments.

-  String samples and sections of string players behave differently with regards to multiple notes.

For instance, if you are using cello samples and you switch from playing one note to playing two notes in octaves, then you also switch from triggering one sample to triggering two samples–and the result is a much bigger sound.

However, if you write two notes for the cello section and then mark it divisi, the cello section does not magically double in size.  The most common solution to this discrepancy is to use doubling of sections to achieve that bigger sound.  For instance, you could double the cello section and the violin 1 section in octaves.  This approach *does* double the number of players per part in the real world–just as you doubled the number of samples being triggered in your sequence.

-  Variable decays are more challenging in the world of samples than in the acoustic world.

A trumpet player in the real world can change dynamics on a sustained note with complete ease.  While holding a note, they can crescendo, decrescendo, remain level, or some combination of these dynamic changes.

While using samples, we generally have access to many different decay types.  Some samples have a level sustained sound, others crescendo, others decrescendo, and so on.  However, once a sample is triggered, the decay of that sample is generally pre-determined.  If we want to change that decay, then we have to add MIDI continuous controller data, be it volume, expression, modulation, or other.  As a result, it’s generally more complicated to sequence instruments and musical ideas that have a variable decay in the acoustic world than instruments that do not.

Tip #3 — Set the expectations of your client.

Some clients will be under the impression that a MIDI mockup will sound exactly like a recording of a real orchestra.  In general, life is better for all involved if such expectations are tampered a bit.

I generally encourage clients to think of a MIDI orchestration much like computer animation.  A great computer animator could make a visual image of Tom Cruise.  It will look great, and it will immediately remind people of Tom Cruise.  However, the audience won’t mistake it for an actual picture of Tom Cruise.

Encouraging clients to think similarly of MIDI orchestrations can create a smoother working environment.

One such example is the Petrushka chord and its “companion”, which I first blogged about here.

In this post, I will talk about another six-note set, its “companion set”, and use them in a musical example.

Augmented Scale

The augmented scale^1,2 is created by alternating minor seconds and minor thirds.  Starting on middle C, the augmented scale is:

Notably, the scale can be notated with either a minor second or minor third as the first interval.  In the above case, the first interval is a minor second (between C and Db).  Below, the augmented scale is notated with the enharmonic equivalent of a minor third first and beginning on D-flat—and the pitches are the same as above.

As mentioned above, any 6-note scale has a “companion set” of six pitches consisting of the other six notes in the 12-note chromatic scale.  In the case of the augmented scale, the “companion set” for the augmented scale is yet another augmented scale.  In the case of the scale above, an augmented scale built on D uses the six notes not used by the augmented scale built on C.

The augmented scale is also interesting because so many harmonies can be extracted from it, including a variety of major triads, minor triads, augmented triads, and seventh chords.  Below are some of the harmonies that can be found in the augmented scale beginning on C, with some pitches respelled as enharmonics.

Musical Example

Below is a musical example that experiments with these scales.  This is an excerpt from the third movement of a symphony I recently completed.  The movement is in sonata form, and this material is used as the more lyrical B theme.

The first four measures of the phrase use the augmented scale C, C#, E, F, G# and A.  The next two measures of the phrase use its companion scale–D, Eb, F#, G, A# and B.  The music then begins anew with a new augmented scale–D#, E, G, Ab, B, and C.

These harmonies are outlined with a harmonic accompaniment.

[To view the notation larger, click on it with your mouse.  Following the notation is a link to an MP3 of the music performed with piano samples.]

Musical Example — Harmonic Accompaniment

Next, a melody using the same pitch sets is added.

Musical Example — Melody Added

Next, a countermelody is added.

Musical Example — Countermelody Added

This excerpt produces a bit of a mysterious tone, likely a result of the augmented triads inherent in the harmony.  Accordingly, this passage could be orchestrated with soft strings, woodwinds, muted brass and harp, producing soft tone colors that match the mysterious harmonies.

Below is an MP3 of such an orchestration.

Musical Example — Orchestrated

===

¹ http://stormhorn.com/2009/08/24/the-augmented-scale/
² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexatonic_scale#Augmented_scale

I recently embarked on what is probably a fool’s errand.  I thought I’d try to make a list of characteristics found in all the great orchestral music that I love.  The tricky part is…  I love a lot of orchestral music, from past classics like the Beethoven symphonies to recent compositions like the Rouse flute concerto.  Across that spectrum there are drastic differences in style, harmony, and compositional technique.  Yet, I thoroughly enjoy all of that music, so it would seem there has to be common characteristics that generate its appeal.

Below, I have included a list of the concepts I came up with.  Each characteristic is something I have observed across all the music I love—from Bach to Rouse.  I have divided these observations into two categories:  General Characteristics and Specific Compositional Techniques.  The general characteristics are big-picture ideas, concepts that could equally apply to other art forms.  The specific compositional techniques are ideas specific to orchestral music composition that promote one of the general characteristics.

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think…

General Characteristics

-       Forward Momentum

Great music has a clear sense of forward momentum.  It has a beginning, middle, end—and a clear sense of forward direction connecting those points.

-       Pacing

Great music progresses from beginning to end with a certain pacing.  The music dwells in each emotional stage long enough that the listener can fully experience that moment, but moves on to the next idea before boring the listener.

-       Maximized Variety Within a Defined Scope

This is a balance between two extremes. Great music has a lot of variety, evolving in tone color, themes, and so on.  Yet, great music is also limited in scope, being viewed as an outflow from a particular idea or viewpoint.

I believe Barber’s Adagio for Strings effectively demonstrates this concept.  It is extremely focused in mood and style.  Yet within that scope, it maximizes variety—utilizing extremes in dynamics, passing the melody around all sections, and incorporating a variety of compositional structures including simple melody/harmony passages, complex counterpoint, and homophonic chord progressions.  So the music is focused in terms of scope, but maximizes variety within that scope.

-       Completion

Great music has a clear sense of completion at the end.  It does not stop arbitrarily, but does so because it has reached the end of a logical journey.

-       Emotionally and Intellectually Identifiable

In great music, the average audience member can “follow along”, so to speak.  The audience can feel the emotions intended by the composer and musicians.  And the audience can follow the musical ideas intellectually at least minimally, even when they move around the orchestra in a complex manner.

Specific Compositional Techniques

-       Incorporate the full range from simplicity and complexity.

Example: The Rite of Spring contains some of the most complex music ever written.  Yet the first idea is a lone bassoon solo.  The “Augurs of Spring” begins as a rhythmic pattern in homophonic strings.  “Spring Rounds” begins with a simple, low register accompaniment pattern.

The inclusion of simple music, complex music, and everything in between creates variety in the music and can generate forward momentum in the form.

-       Use of complex structures to create tension and simple structures to create resolution.

Examples:  The fugue.  Fugues are extremely complex.  But—they begin extremely simply, as a solo melodic statement.  They also end simply, with all voices collapsing to a clear cadence.  In the middle, they gradually increase in complexity from one voice to two, three, and four voices.

In this case, the incremental complexity creates forward momentum throughout the piece, and the collapse to simplicity at the end creates resolution and completion.

Works using other forms can similarly apply this concept.

In the case of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, the beginning is an extremely simple melody/harmony structure.  The climax is a simple homophonic chord progression.  The build between the two uses more complex counterpoint.  In this case, simple structures are used as introductions, climaxes and codas—where resolution is desired.  Complex structures are used during builds and contractions—when tension is desired.

Using this guideline promotes forward momentum throughout the form and generates a sense of completion upon the conclusion.

-       Use of Dynamic Extremes

One of the greatest strengths of the orchestra is its potential variety in dynamics—from the softest tam-tam strike to a full tutti.  Great orchestral music makes use of those extremes, creating variety and interest.

-       Variety of Tone Color

One of the greatest strengths of the orchestra is its potential variety in tone color.  Great orchestral music passes the material all around the orchestra, maximizing variety of tone color.

-       Reuse of Material Throughout the Form

Nearly all great music has ideas that recur at different points in the form.  This helps define the music in terms of scope and often makes the form more identifiable to the listener.  It can also create completion at the finish upon the reprisal of an idea.

-       Reuse with Variation

The great composers rarely repeated a musical passage verbatim.  Rather, when reprising an idea, they created a related but new variation.  This approach creates variety in the music without changing scope.

-       Logical long-term harmonic movement

Long-term harmonic movement typically refers to the key movement within a piece.  Most commonly, this means establishing tonic as a home key, moving away from it, and returning to it at the end.  When used effectively, long-term harmonic movement creates forward direction during the piece and completion at the conclusion.

Examples:  Sonata form.  In the exposition section of sonata form, the first theme is stated in the home key and the second theme is most commonly stated in the dominant.  The development section moves far and wide, often arriving on the dominant seventh of the home key at the end of the section.  The recapitulation then states both themes in the home key.  This creates a logical direction in the form…  Establish tonic, move away from it via the dominant, and then return to tonic.

This form creates forward momentum in the music as we move away from tonic and long for its return.  It also creates a sense of completion upon the triumphant return to tonic.

A more recent example is the Trombone Concerto by Rouse, which is cast across three movements.  The first movement establishes G as tonic and ultimately modulates to E.  The second movement revolves around C#.  The third movement begins in Bb and then resolves down to G.

This form gives the piece a logical direction and forward momentum as we progress downward in minor thirds.  In addition, a clear sense of completion is generated at the end upon the final arrival back to G.  The piece does not just end arbitrarily; it ends because we’ve completed a logical journey back to the home key of G.

-       Unity in the harmonic language across melody, harmony and key movement.

In the previous example, Rouse’s Trombone Concerto uses a key movement based upon minor thirds.  In addition, the melodic motifs emphasize minor thirds throughout the piece.  This is an example of a link between short melodic motifs and long-term key movement.

Classical music typically uses diatonic relationships in the melody, harmony, and key movement.  Modern music typically uses more dissonant intervals, but uses those relationships across the melody, harmony and key movement.

In all of these cases, a uniform approach to harmony, melody and key movement gives the piece a uniform sound and helps to define the scope of the work.

-       All characteristics of the music, including harmony, counterpoint, melodic phrasing, and orchestration, are coordinated to create a single emotional response.

Example:  The development section in sonata form.  The central function of the development section is to create tension, which is ultimately resolved by the recapitulation.  In the development section, the melodic material becomes more fragmented.  The counterpoint becomes more complex.  The key centers change more frequently and venture far from tonic.  The harmonies are often more dissonant.  Assuming it’s an orchestrated piece, the tone colors shift more frequently and the instrumentation often grows.  All of these characteristics are coordinated to increase tension and build momentum.

The recapitulation section ultimately resolves that tension.  The melodic material is more connected, typically in 8- and 16-bar phrases.  The counterpoint is often simpler, using simpler melody/accompaniment structures.  The key no longer changes, remaining in tonic.  The harmonies are typically more consonant.  In the case of an orchestrated piece, the tone colors are more continuous with fewer shifts.  All of these characteristics create resolution.

When all the characteristics of the music are aimed at producing a single result, it maximizes the emotional impact of the music.

-       Harmonic structures are chosen based on emotional impact.

This is a tough one that nearly every composer struggles with.  Personally, I love music that uses all sorts of different harmonic languages.  For music about love, triads and tonal harmonies are extremely effective (such as those in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet).  For music about terror, clusters and dissonant harmonies are extremely effective (such as those in Penderecki’s De Natura Sonoris No. 2).

For my part, I most enjoy music that uses whatever harmonic language best conveys the emotion at hand.  For love and joy, tonal consonance.  For fear and terror, atonal dissonance.  Making harmonic decisions based on the emotional reactions of the listener maximizes the emotional impact of the music.

-       Tangible melodic material at times, not at others.*

For me, this one comes with an asterisk.  There is some music out there that has virtually no melodic content, yet it remains extremely effective emotionally.  In general, this tends to be music that elicits the darker emotions in life—fear, suspense, depression, solitude, etc.  Ligeti’s Lontano comes to mind as an example.  In addition, while some pieces have clear melodic statements at some points, they have other passages that have no melodic content or extremely fragmented melodic content.  Introductions often set up a harmonic and rhythmic foundation for a melody that comes later, and virtually any piece in sonata form has clear melodies in the exposition section and significant fragmentation in the development section.  For all of these reasons, seeking a clear melodic line at all times is an ideal that is very confining for any composer.

That said, some emotions seem to demand clear and tangible melodic material.  Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet would not be an effective expression of love without its famous melody.  Additionally, for the average listener, interest in the music will wane if the music goes on for an extended period without a tangible melodic statement.  Certainly, an hour-long symphony without a clear melodic idea would not be terribly popular.  Stated most simply, using clear melodic content adds to the emotional and intellectual tangibility of the music.

When we consider long-form works that are generally accepted as great, a trend does emerge.  At times, they have a clear and tangible melody.  At other times, they do not.  The passages lacking clear melodies vary wildly in structure, from simple harmonic introductions to complex textural chaos.  Notably, this observation is an extension of a previous note—that great works incorporate a range of compositional structures from simple to complex—and applies that concept specifically to the issue of melody.

For reference, the original blog is here:  http://bennewhouse.berkleemusicblogs.com/2012/06/22/marketing-new-concert-music/

The Question

The classics in concert music have been virally marketed for 200 years or so.  We all know about Beethoven and Mahler from books, teachers, movies, and so on.  That raises the profile of the music and helps sell tickets to concerts that program the music.

Other programming options for orchestral concert music, such as film music, have the backing of large marketing campaigns in other genres.  In other words, we all know about “The Lord of the Rings”, so when that music appears on a concert program, the previous marketing campaign by the film studio helps to sell tickets to the concert.

In general, new concert music by living composers does not have these benefits, lacking the 200-year history of a Beethoven symphony and the multi-million dollar marketing campaign of a major film studio.

Given that new concert music faces an inherent marketing disadvantage when compared to other programming possibilities, what can be done to overcome this disadvantage?

Many comments, thoughts and suggestions were posted in response.  Here are those thoughts aggregated, with a few of my own added:

Composers and Sweat Marketing

Composers should take an active approach to marketing themselves and their music.  In some cases, the composer can do such marketing entirely on their own.  In other cases, such marketing can be done in conjunction with a local orchestra, who would similarly benefit from the efforts.

I like to call this “sweat marketing”, borrowing from the business term “sweat equity”.  In business, “sweat equity” is an ownership stake in a company earned by putting in time and effort (rather than a financial investment).  Here, “sweat marketing” is the time and effort a composer puts into marketing his or her own music.

Some possibilities when getting involved with your local orchestra…

-  Pre-concert lectures.

-  Q&A or Meet the Composer sessions with the audience or orchestra donors.

-  Community outreach of any form, such as composition lessons with interested audience members.

Activities such as this can be a win-win situation.  They are a legitimate service to the community and your local orchestra, and they benefit the composer by raising the profile of that composer within the local community.  When a composer is not unknown, but rather “the guy who gave that riveting lecture on Mahler 5″, that can help to overcome the marketing disadvantages associated with new music.

Some online efforts a composer can engage in:

-  Create a website.  This can offer the world biographical information about the composer, text descriptions of the music written, audio samples of the music, and more.

-  Nurture social media communities.  Many folks simply prefer communicating via Facebook, Linkedin, etc.  If you don’t have a presence on those sites, then you don’t have access to those communities.

-  Offer a range of products, ranging from free to expensive material.  Recordings of your music, “Inside Look” interviews, notated scores, videos/animations with the music as the score, and so on.

Many readers commented with ideas along these lines.

“If we treat it like a product launch, we would immediately take a different approach,” noted Linda Dallimore.  “For example, explaining the concept of the piece, ensuring it gets reviewed and endorsed, making a blog or website about it, publicizing it on Facebook & Twitter, etc.”

Linda has clearly embraced the concept of sweat marketing.

“I’m writing a symphony about South America now,” she commented.  “And I realize once I’ve finished it that I’ll need to push it out there and market it creatively to attract an audience. So, I could do interviews on the inspiration and ideas behind it, potentially link up with a travel agency or related industry who also wants to promote South America, make a blog on South America and have snippets of the music embedded in it, invite classical music reviewers to listen to it live, post part of it on Facebook and invite friends to the concert, etc.”

Many commenters suggested the idea of using email and MP3s to promote a concert.

“Those who subscribe via email to a symphony could be sent a sample video or audio; give away a free mp3 of a new piece of music that is going to be played at the symphony,” noted Allison Huntley.

Another concept introduced in the comments was the idea of creating and nurturing a permission-based list of fans.  In essence, these are fans who have opted to receive content from a composer or orchestra.  Permission can be granted by joining a mailing list on a composer’s website or by becoming “Friends” in social networking environments such as Facebook.

“I think that one thing all musicians/composers need to do is to create and nurture their permission based list of fans,” commented Mike K.  “It’s important to think about creative ways to acquire contact info across all verticals, including email, social, physical addresses and more. Once you have this contact, the way in which you communicate is important, and providing engaging content (such as an inside look into what a composer/musician does) is important. I think targeting any marketing to super niche outlets makes sense too. Once you have a base of folks you can communicate with, you are adding value to the relationship, and you have a rhythm down with your communication, I think at that point it makes sense to monetize.”

Notably, the typical orchestral concert audience does skew a bit older, so their is a benefit to acquiring contact information that includes physical addresses.  This was noted by others as well.

“There are also probably a lot of older people that don’t have an email address and only get updates from a symphony via mail,” noted Allison Huntley.

“Borrow” from other Marketing Efforts

Several comments noted that we could benefit from the marketing advantages of the classics by programming new music and the classics in the same concert.

“People are attracted to classic composers or film music because that is what they know…  We can leverage that rather than fight it,” commented Anna.  “I think you can leverage this simply by including the classics as part of the concert. Do a mixture of classic and new.”

I certainly have attended many concerts that pair a short new work by a living composer with a longer work from the established repertoire.  In such situations, the marketing efforts typically focus on the established and well-known piece, but the new work still gets to be performed and heard.

Notably, this approach of “borrowed marketing” could extend to the concept of the music itself.  One example is the “Metropolis Symphony” by Michael Daugherty, which is a five-movement symphony based on the Superman Comics.  Another example is the “Titanic Symphony” by Richard Kastle, which is a four-movement symphony based on the story of the Titanic.

For these works, the underlying creative premise is the same as the underlying premise for a well-known film or story.  As such, the music tangentially benefits from the marketing campaigns of those projects.

Packaging of Concerts

Several ideas were proposed for packaging concerts.  In essence, this means promoting a concert as a “New Music” concert, “Living Composers” concert, “Local Composers” concert, or some other theme.

“Locally, one could coordinate with the local or regional symphony to have a concert series featuring local composers,” commented John.

Creating a theme can also be a way to connect a living composer with a classically known composer.  For instance, an orchestra in Pennsylvania could create a theme of “Pennsylvania Classical Music” to link a living composer from Pennsylvania to a well-known composer from the past (such as Samuel Barber).

For each of these possibilities, a composer or orchestra must assess whether the “theme” of the concert is a benefit or a hindrance.  It may be that a “New Music” concert simply won’t sell well in a particular community.

“A few weeks ago I was advertising a new modern music concert and found that as soon as you say ‘new’ or ‘modern’ that you get an instant response of NO from the general public,” commented Matthew Petrie.  “I have, however, found it does depend on where you live and if you have been brought up to newer music…  One long term way to try and help promote new music for the future could be to introduce this music to kids at a younger age.”

Several comments suggested taking advantage of the Internet and other venues to increase audience reach.  Several orchestras have begun initiatives such as webcasting, allowing them to reach audiences beyond the immediate physical area.  The Detroit Symphony Orchestra comes to mind as an orchestra offering free webcasts, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic has been transmitting live performances to movie theaters.

“The real issue is venue,” commented William K.  “The traditional concert hall is increasingly becoming obsolete. Composers need to look at other vehicles: online, video, internet.”

The Music Itself

Many comments were posted regarding the music itself.  These comments all boil down to a basic idea…  Compose music that people want to hear.  There is an implication in these comments that the contemporary music of the 20th century diverged from the taste of the average audience member.

“Forget about trying to sell the avant garde non-tonal music,” noted Dan.

From my personal experience, I would simply say that this is a very complicated topic.  Taste is something that is very personal and opinions vary wildly.  Composers can feel “caught in the middle”, having to balance the opinions of various stakeholders who don’t necessarily agree.

“In my opinion, today’s composers as a whole feel they need to incorporate modern-music techniques or risk being dismissed as trivial or hokey,” commented Jon Monteverde.  “I also think that to a certain extent, pushing emotional buttons in conventional ways has fallen out of favor in the orchestra outside of program music, to decreasing audience popularity.”

For this topic, I do not believe there is one simple answer, as opinions vary wildly from person to person and community to community.  However, I think we can all agree that music that takes into account the desires and expectations of the average audience member is easier to market, and that should please all involved.  For composers and orchestras alike, it’s beneficial to spend time defining the target audience and assessing the taste preferences of that group.

Such an outcome should come as no surprise.  The simplest point is that living composers are starting from scratch from a marketing standpoint, while other alternatives for concert programming benefit from pre-existing marketing efforts.

Beethoven, in addition to being a great composer, benefits from 200 years of viral marketing.  We all grow up being told by teachers, books, parents, friends, movies, and more that Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, etc. were great composers.  ”Beethoven” has become a brand name that we’re all familiar with, and that brand name helps sell concert tickets.

Music associated with high-profile films has a similar benefit.  For instance, if the Lord of the Rings appears on an orchestral concert program, the potential concert goer immediately recognizes the name.  The books came out in the 40s and became some of the best-selling books of all time.  New Line Cinema spent millions of dollars marketing the films.  “The Lord of the Rings” is a previously marketed brand name, and that brand name helps sell concert tickets.

In general, music written by living concert music composers does not enjoy these advantages.  A new piece of concert music does not have the 200-year history of a Beethoven symphony.  Nor does it have a film studio marketing campaign behind it.

Yet…  I noticed something else at the conference.  Orchestras and musicians still *want* to play music by living composers.  They don’t want to exclusively play Mahler for the rest of eternity.  They want to add to the repertoire of orchestral music.  They just don’t want to go broke doing it.

So…  I thought in this blog I would pose a simple question.

Given that new concert music faces an inherent marketing disadvantage when compared to other programming possibilities, what can be done to overcome this disadvantage?

Please feel free to put your ideas in the comments section of this blog.  I will aggregate them and add any of my own in a subsequent post.

In these situations, the two parts should be broken into separate “voices”.  Each voice should have enough beats to complete the measure.  The top voice should be written “stems up” and the bottom voice should be written “stems down”.

Let’s look at some quick examples.

In the example below, two oboe parts are notated on a single staff.  The top part is for oboe player 1 and notated “stems up”.  The bottom part is for oboe player 2 and notated “stems down”.

Without using separate voices, these parts would have to employ a creative and less-than-elegant use of ties.  Something like the notation below…  (This solution is very difficult to read and should never be used.)

It’s important to note that, when using voices, both voices must have enough beats to complete the measure.  In the previous example, both voice 1 and voice 2 had four beats per measure.  If rests are needed in a voice, then they should be notated above or below the staff.

Notably, it is possible for the two parts to be in unison.  In this instance, the two voices share the same notehead but retain the “stems up” and “stems down” system.

In the example below, the two oboe parts are briefly in unison on beat 3.

Using voices is one way to indicate that only one of the players should play.  In the example below, player 2 rests while player 1 has a part.

Using voices is most important when the two parts have different rhythms.  When the parts have the same rhythm, it is acceptable to notate the parts with one voice—using one stem direction.

One last, but important note…  These techniques should be used in the conductor’s score only and not in the player’s parts.  In the case of the individual parts, only the part specific to that player should be included.  So oboe player 1 will receive a part notating only the oboe 1 part, and oboe player 2 will receive a part notating only the oboe 2 part.  This removes the need to use voices to separate the individual parts.

While reading, I began to think about how we listen to music and what parts of the brain we use while listening.  What strikes me most is how much that differs from person to person…

In one category you have non-musicians.  Essentially by definition, they listen to music primarily with their emotional brains.  This is simply because they haven’t been trained to analyze music rationally.  When I play a piece of music for a non-musician, I hear comments like “I liked it because it made me sad” or “I liked it because it reminded me of something in my life”.  These are fundamentally emotional responses to the music.

In the other category you have trained musicians.  While we listen to music emotionally on some level, we also listen to it very rationally.  When I play a piece of music for a trained musician, I hear comments about structure and form.  “I really like the way it changed meter here” or “I like the way that the theme came back with different instrumentation” or “I like the way it delayed the resolution to tonic” and so on.

Among musicians, you then have many sub-categories of people based on different rational preferences.  In essence, we all analyze the music rationally, but we disagree about what rational structures are inherently **good**.

I recently played a piece of music for two musicians.  The first musician said…  “I really like that it’s tonal.”  The second musician said…  “Well, it’s just too tonal for my tastes.”  Both musicians listened with their rational brain, analyzed the music’s harmonic structure and deemed it to use tonal harmony.  The first musician concluded that the tonal structure was a good thing.  The second musician concluded that the tonal structure was a bad thing.

I thought in this blog that I’d tell the above little story and then pose two questions…

Question 1

As trained musicians, our “rational brains” are extremely active when we listen.  We listen to music and break it down into structures and theory.  This raises the question…

What structures should be deemed inherently “good”?

Question 2

Given that musicians listen to music “rationally” and non-musicians listen to music “emotionally”, how does that affect us as creators of music?  Should it affect what we write?  Should it affect how we present our music to others?

I don’t believe that there are definitively right or wrong answers to these questions, but I thought they were worth posing.  Feel free to answer them to yourself or state your opinion as a comment on this blog.  After I’ve given you all a little time to respond, I’ll add my own two cents.

Welcome to 2012 everyone!

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick post.  I’ll be hosting an Open House via Berklee’s website on Monday November 14th at 4:00 PM EST.  It will be a 30-minute session of Q&A covering orchestration topics.

If you’re interested in joining the event, Berklee has a sign-up page here:

http://www.berkleemusic.com/openhouse-signup/

Hope to see you there!

Best,

Ben