Klarinet Archive - Posting 000146.txt from 2004/04

From: Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Pulitzer
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 14:29:42 -0400

> Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 17:34:34 -0700
> From: "Benjamin Maas"
> <benmaas@-----.com>
>=20
> I find it interesting looking through the list
> of winners how many composer's pieces
> that won the award never became popular...
> However, other works by those composers
> have become standards of the repertoire.
> --Ben
=20
> Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 21:14:51 -0400
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> From: "Jay niep" <Niep@-----.com>
>=20
> it is interesting how many of the composers
> and their compositions have fallen into
> obscurity.
> jay

In the Spring of 2003 I was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize for being the first and only person
in known history to write 2 Double Fugue works
to commemorate an historic event. In this case it
was for the horrible tragedy of the 9-11 Attack:

"In Memoriam for the Fallen Victims of the
September 11, 2001, Attack", (July 2002, 7 min.)
being a 6-Voiced Double Fugue for Solo Horn
and Strings.=20

"Fanfare for the Fallen Heroes of the September
11, 2001, Attack", (August 2002, 8 1/2 min.)
being a 4-Voiced Double Fugue for String
Orchestra; (with transcriptions planned for Brass
and Percussion, also for Full Orchestra, and
maybe even for High School Wind Band).

The harmony in both of these works is the
same kind of Chromatic Modality (with a little
Quartal Harmony) that I use in ALL my works.
I also use a lot of Inversion, Retrograde and
Retrograde-Inversion, but also always in
Chromatic Modality, and never in 12-Tone,
which I've never enjoyed nor promoted.

I was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by the
Dedicatee Conductor of the "Fanfare", Dr.
Carolyn Waters Broe, who had suggested that
I write the "Fanfare" the first place. These two
works, and 3 of my Konzertst=FCcke, were recorded
on our Live "9-11 Tribute Concert" on September
6, 2002, with the Four Seasons Chamber String
Orchestra.=20

We were warned in the year before I finished
writing these works, that Pulitzer Prizes too often
only go to people, who have already won many
huge awards and/or as a Lifetime Achievement
Award. First-timers almost never win. I've met
and even studied with several famous "Modern
Classical" Composers, including a number of
Pulitzer Prize Winners, and none of them got it
on their first try either.

Last summer I got slammed by a few geniuses
on this list, who are so brilliant that they can't do,
and never studied, 16th, 18th nor 20th Century
Counterpoint, and therefore have NO right to
criticize it. They also tried to imply that Fugues
can only be written in Bach-styled 18th Century
Tonality, and that even Fugues in Modern Har-
mony are too-easy-to-write than to matter, and
are therefore only worthy of mockery.

Let us be clear, that there have been a number
of contrapuntal composers in the last 100 years,
including: Stravinsky, Hindemith, Shostakovich,
Berg, Lutoslawski, Barber, Hovhaness, Bartok,
Toch, etc. Some of them have invented a few
New Kinds of Fugues, not to mention that even
I, Bear Woodson, have also invented at least
FOUR New Kinds Fugues!

For those who still think that counterpoint is
too dumb to earn respect, how can you explain
the Pulitzer Prize given to Aaron Kernis for the
Triple Fugue in his Second String Quartet. At
38, he was one of the youngest recipients ever
of the Pulitzer Prize for Music!

Aaron Jay Kernis - String Quartet No. 2,
"musica instrumentalis"
World Premiere: 10 January 1998

http://www.pulitzer.org/cyear/1998w.html
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/kernis/bio.html
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/kernis/instrumentalis.html

I applaud hard work, talent and kindness from
anyone who has ever done such things. This was
likely my only shot at the Pulitzer, but at least I
tried, and have put in years of study and honest,
hard work. I look forward to hearing the
"Tempest Fantasy" by Mr. Paul Moravec.

Bear Woodson =20
Composer in Tucson, Arizona, USA

Home: 520 - 881 - 2558
"Bear Woodson" <bearwoodson@-----.net>

http://www.fluteconnection.net/
Then click on "Contemporary Composers",
then click on "Bear Woodson".

http://catalog.lib.asu.edu/search/a?SEARCH=3DMcGale
=20

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