23 Dec 2012 No Comments
Composition Quote of the Day: Our Duty
We have a duty towards music, namely, to invent it.
–Igor Stravinsky
composition quote
13 Dec 2012 No Comments
Composition Quote of the Day: Be Clear
What I’m saying, of course, is that you just can’t worry about trying to be completely clear, because it’s just not possible to write music on such a low and obvious level as to do that. On the other hand, I find that most composers exaggerate in the other direction. They think that if musical structure is clear the music will somehow lose its mystery, or people will think the composer is stupid. I find, though, that the more you understand music the more mysterious it becomes, and this is even true of pieces that have been analysed to death, like [Beethoven’s] Fifth Symphony. I also find that intelligent people always respect the intelligence needed to construct a simple structure in a clear way that really works.
–Tom Johnson
10 Dec 2012 No Comments
Composition Quote of the Day: What Works
I stole this quote from Jennifer Jolley‘s wonderful composer blog Why Compose When You Can Blog:
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined: nothing works and no one knows why.
–Anonymous [apparently]
Recent Comments