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Re: Playing the music

Author: Ski
Date: 2007-09-06 23:53

On the heels of what you wrote, Phillip, I guess I'm just not that "democratic" of a composer. When I write something I expect it to be played as written. When something isn't played as written but I end up liking what I heard, I'll consider making a change to the score; I'm not that inflexible.

I'll often work with performers to understand where performance difficulties might lie and change the score if something's just a little too complicated to play. I'm more concerned in having my musical gestures and melodies well-represented than I am interested in taxing a performer needlessly.

In my music, when there are no indications for a given length of time it means, quite plainly -- as it does on most pieces of music -- that the mood, dynamic, tempo, continue as they were last indicated. And that's a convention I didn't learn on my own.

Like Alex said before, an overly-marked score can itself present an emotionally stifling situation. I strive not to overmark my scores so that the peformer feels a sense of freedom within the confines of the composition. My composition is an expression of me which I hope other people can find expressive for themselves as well. But at the end of the day, when I write something I'm not doing it to have it become a wiki-composition where everyone can come in and change its meaning. Some music is more "democratic" than others I guess, but I see nothing wrong with that.

Post Edited (2007-09-06 23:54)

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