qLife : Music : Is there still room for new classical music in this world ?

berylmirage: April 14, 2008 - 11:18 AM PST There it is!

berylmirage: April 14, 2008 - 11:13 AM PST I haven't played the Penderecki capriccio, I stumbled upon it looking for another oboe capriccio but I would love to find music for it! And I went back trying to find the Cage piece and my search has been in vain, what I've found isn't the piece I heard a few days back. So maybe it wasn't Cage, but I'll keep looking

brianbunnell: April 13, 2008 - 01:43 PM PST



i had an old cd of cage piano pieces, and they pretty much sounded like cage. short, stacatto, splashy and splinky. splanky. hehe. splanky. i should try to dig up that cd...

mikeybee: April 13, 2008 - 01:24 PM PST I am going to look into the Piece by John Cage too....interesting to see him outside of his "niche" or avant-gardism. Is it reminiscent of music by Phillip Glass?

mikeybee: April 13, 2008 - 01:23 PM PST Penderecki's Cappriccio for Oboe....is amazing!! I have never seen the oboe do anything like that!! Wonderful! Have you played the piece?? Love to hear a recording if you have!

berylmirage: April 12, 2008 - 07:51 PM PST I surely hope so. I am sadly out of touch with what is going on in contemporary composition. Most of what I know comes from oboe associations... Penderecki (from his capriccio for oboe) and Holliger who I never knew as a composer, only a soloist. I heard a piece by John Cage the other day that entranced me "In A Landscape: for solo piano" It's not for prepared piano nor does it use tapes or any electronic media and I had never heard Cage outside of that context... am I the only one? And I'm going to go ahead and third the Philip Glass sentiments.

brianbunnell: April 12, 2008 - 02:14 PM PST i have written several songs. they are on my "studio" page, to the extreme right on the slider. i did only a little composing, as exercises at Peabody. i actually find the strict form of a modern song to be a creative help (even though writing is a struggle now).

and you are right. a good composer's work will sound good no matter what style he is working in. shoenberg's stuff sounds so much better than those of his disciples, because he was a more musical composer. the music is the product of the artist. i forget to consider that sometimes.

mikeybee: April 12, 2008 - 01:48 PM PST Neo tonality! Not a term I coined...sigh....but still I agree that Art-music is sadly a dying form. I still feel there is a lot to do with tonality while at the same time being original. The basis of any great composition said by none other than Aaron Copland is 1) Rhythm, Melody and Harmony weaved together in a spectacular way. they GReat composers always know the best way to achieve this. (I am still working on this) Brian...have you written any songs ? I use Finale 2007 (frustrating program) but that is the mp3 sound you hear! Chat with you later -M

brianbunnell: April 12, 2008 - 12:45 PM PST i forgot to say hindemith, too. hindemith.

brianbunnell: April 12, 2008 - 12:25 PM PST

neotonality! i am not familiar with that term, but i think it is exactly where music should go right about now. my favorite music from the last 60 years came from bernstein, copland, glass, herbie hancock, miles davis... those guys all use tonality to make original music and tell stories.

i say screw avant-gardism. we have an aesthetic science. let's use it. let's advance one step at a time. we know what the ear enjoys. create sounds that fit within that mold. is that too much of a restriction - to create music that the ear enjoys?

there is a place for the avant-garde, and the bold, and the incomprehensible. but classical music right now IS a dying art form. it is being phased out by a world with a new technology and a new economy. if art-music is going to survive it has to keep up... without panicking.

MissJmeLee: April 12, 2008 - 09:23 AM PST Definitely! There are(Im Sure)plenty of good modern day classical composers...One I know of is Dustin O'Halloran. His music was featured in Marie Antionette. Very good stuff...

Here's A Video...

Franchise: April 12, 2008 - 07:43 AM PST 8th Blackbird. I barely heard of them last night through a classical station in my area KUSC 91.5. They improvise on stage with their instruments like a symphonic improv stage show.

say-10: April 12, 2008 - 05:50 AM PST looks like not. paul potts is the last great classical opera voice...and he was found in great britain's version of america's got talent. squirrel nut zippers have bedlam covered and there are no great composers alive in our day.

brianbunnell: April 11, 2008 - 09:06 PM PST yeah, there is room in the world for your music, for sure. nice stuff. sounds very french (lol).

mikeybee: April 11, 2008 - 08:42 PM PST Hey dude!

I love the music of Phillip Glass! I feel as a composer or even musician you need to create your own style. Feel free to check out a couple of my mp3's of my compositions. Love to get some feedback. I too feel there is something new to be done in my case Classical Composing but in a Neo-Tonality kind of flare! In any case chat with you later

mikeybee: April 11, 2008 - 08:40 PM PST

brianbunnell: April 11, 2008 - 08:25 PM PST opening to "einstein on the beach"
by philip glass
video images by some dumbass

brianbunnell: April 11, 2008 - 08:22 PM PST always. i don't think everything has been done. i still hear new things every day.

but they have to get out of their "tradition" and start making new music that is good, and nice to listen to.

check out the operas of philip glass: einstein on the beach, satyagraha, etc.

mikeybee: April 11, 2008 - 08:06 PM PST