On Academic Music

The main reason I'm going back to get my PhD is to become a professor of composition at some liberal arts college or a conservatory somewhere. I love to compose too, but there's a part of me that also loves to teach whether it be theory, orchestration, counterpoint etc.

Recently, I came across a piano sonatina that someone wrote on the Sibelius Score Archive online. It is clearly in sonata form, but was very academically conceived which is its downfall. Now, I've been contemplating the question, "What advice would I give the composer who writes purely academic music?" It is a question that I would certainly have to face once I become a professor.

The challenge in teaching composition, I believe, is to teach technique while at the same time, allowing the student to discover his/her voice.

String Quartets (part 2)

A little update on my string quartet... Things are headed toward the home stretch. I've sketched three movements and I've started sketching the ritornello theme of the last movement, a rondo. So far, I'm pretty satisfied with the material. I'm excited to see what my professors will say about the piece when it is performed this fall.

The first movement "Nervously" is marked Andante moderato. The movement is a bit fragmented as each instrument, in the beginning, has its own independent rhythm and permutating pitches. The first violin, however, comes in on a soaring melody in the highest register which becomes a kind of nervous little tune that one might whistle when sensing danger. The middle section begins with a syncopated jazz-twinged trio in the lower three strings while the first violin has the nervous figuration from the beginning. It all leads to a climax where the tune comes back, this time barraged by constant sixteenth-note motion in the lower strings. A jittery unison rhythm leads to the final outburst in the viola, which carries the tune and relays it to the other instruments until there is a final coda: the tune ends ambiguously while the cello mutters its paranoid chatter in its lowest register.

The movement ends on a held low note in the cello, and immediately proceeds (attacca) into the second movement "Obsessively." It is marked Prestissimo. I had a lot of fun working with the materials of this movement, and so far, it is my favorite. I actually stole the material almost verbatim from the obsesssive, mechanical string parts from Christopher Rouse's orchestral piece, "The Infernal Machine." In fact, I wanted to emulate that piece with this movement, but in miniature of course. The piece is in sonata form and lasts no more than four minutes long.

The third movement "Calmly (Moonlight)" is marked Adagio and is the more tonally organized of the movements. In fact, it is in the same key as Debussy's "Clair de Lune" and uses a descending melody much like Debussy's. The principal sound that one hears though is the augmented chord, which I use in several strategic places. The movement ends on a softly held, high chord in all instruments which leads directly to...

Movement four "Sarcastically." So, as I said before, this movement is a rondo, marked Allegro con malizia. It is so far filled with tritones and major sevenths which give it its sarcastic flair along with the occasional perfect fifth as a teasing gesture toward tonality.

In my previous post about string quartets, I mentioned Shostakovich. He and Prokofiev are definitely showing up in my quartet with a little French Impressionism in the third movement. I'm anxious for the first performance.

String Quartet no. 1 (2008)

I. Nervously
II. Obsessively
III. Calmly (Moonlight)
IV. Sarcastically

Conrad Susa

I learned a lot from my two years studying with Conrad Susa at the conservatory in San Francisco. Rather, what I did was "unlearn" a lot of things. My tendency is one of intellectualism, and whenever that tendency goes unchecked, my music suffers, becoming too dry and academic. What the conservatory did was teach me to "unlearn" that tendency and to become more open emotionally and expressively.

Conrad is such a character as well. I remember one day he was blowing bubbles in the hallway, and not only that, but began prancing around the school with a bubble wand in his hand lol.

He is also very inspiring at my lessons and would often quote everybody from Anne Sexton to Beavis and Butthead. I laughed when he described a piece of music that he'd want me to write as opening the shutters and seeing a swarm of flies... and then closing the shutters. He also once described me as being a "conservative person with a radical mind." A lovely quote which I take wholeheartedly as a compliment. All in all, although he can be brusque at times, he was never coarse (or at least with me he wasn't). I find him a very sweet man.

Recently, I encountered a radio interview that my former teacher, Conrad Susa, conducted on the NPR show, "Pipedreams." The premiere of his "Fantasy for Brass, Organ and Percussion" and his "Fantasy Tango" which derives much of the material from the former piece, was broadcast on the same program. You can hear Conrad's music here:

String Quartets

My mind for the past month or two has been wrapped around the string quartet. I've begun writing my first string quartet and it's been a slow process for sure. Although I have two and a half movements sketched out, it has been a struggle to find the inspiration to compose the full four-movement work that I want to write. And the main dillema is that these two movements kinda don't go together. One movement uses a neo-tonal Barber-ian language and the other is more caustic, like Shostakovich. It would be interesting to put the two together in the middle of the form in order to highlight the complete contrast... but more and more, I'm thinking these are really two kernels that are meant to pop in separate popcorn kettles. So... I'm choosing... caustic kernel #2.

And which leads me to Shostakovich. His eighth quartet, the one dedicated to the victims of fascism, was the first string quartet that really "did it" for me--that really got my attention and made me marvel at the genre. The melancholy, the violence, and the horrors he tried to portray really hit me viscerally. I first heard that quartet when I was a senior in high school attending a summer chamber music festival. The string quartet that played was comprised of just high school students, but their delivery and interpretation were very mature... it was one of the most memorable live performances I have ever attended.

Now, after Shostakovich 8, I'm pretty ignorant about the string quartet genre, I'm afraid to say. I enjoy Beethoven's Quartet in F Major, from the Razumovsky set, and I enjoy Bartok's contributions to the genre, but I can't say that I have a handle on the development of string quartets. I'm much more familiar with keyboard and symphonic literature for example. So it's a bit daunting to write a string quartet when one is unsure about what came before.

Well, at any rate, this string quartet will have four movements: andante-presto-adagio-allegro. That's the plan, at least. The presto is sketched, and I have the beginnings of the first movement (I'll have to save my original sketch for the third movement for another piece). I have ideas for the adagio and the allegro is still way off in the future. Hopefully, I'll have it ready for the fall.

Here is a little snippet of the Shostakovich 8:

Maestro

So apparently in the UK, there is a reality TV show debuting called "Maestro." The premise is sort of like "Dancing with the Stars" only celebrities train themselves as orchestral conductors, and instead of dancing with professionals, they get to conduct a professional orchestra (the BBC Concert Orchestra) live at the Proms. I happen to dig this whole idea. First of all, if you don't know me, I'm a huge reality TV fan. Heck, I'm not afraid to admit it, but like a lot of young teens in the '90s, I tried out for the Real World on MTV... just to see what it's like. There's just something about one's "ten minutes" that makes reality TV compelling to watch. Also, I am willing to bet that this show will only make classical music more accessible to a larger swath of humanity. No longer will conducting have an air of pomposity and elitism around it. Classical music is for everybody. Lastly, it will demonstrate to the layman what conducting and what music is about: connecting to people, your performers, and the audience... bringing out the best in people by sharing beautiful music. Anyway, that's my hope for this show.

And, as a sidenote... if you didn't catch it before. The Fox reality show, "So You Think You Can Dance," had its own pair of conductors perform. Check it out.

Fugue in G Minor

As a keyboard player (piano, organ, harpsichord), I find no other composer's music as thrilling to play as the music of J.S. Bach. I especially enjoy playing his fugues. His masterful skill at counterpoint truly amazes me every time I sit down at one of his fugues whether it be a simple one such as his fugue in C Minor from WTC Book I or a rather complex fugue such as his G Minor fugue for organ known as "The Great" BWV 542/2. I'm learning this particular fugue and it certainly has its challenges. The above clip is also useful because it breaks down the structure of the fugue rather well (although at 1:22 what we have is not another episode but a presentation of the fugue subject in an inner voice).

As a composer, I've only composed one fugue in my whole repertory. In fact, it is a double fugue, and it's found in the "Scherzo" of my Piano Quintet. Someday, I'll post a clip of it, once I learn how to embed an Mp3 player on this thing. Oh, and I also composed a fugato at the end of the "Finale" of my bassoon sonata. I think that's all the fugue I've written so far. I would sure like to write more as I find them challenging and very rewarding to write.

Back to Blogging

Greetings, people of the web!

After reading and enjoying a couple of friends' blogs, I've decided to come back to blogging after a hiatus of two years. If you're interested in what I had to say back then, check out my livejournal at http://stilsonkidd.livejournal.com. I had that blog since 2004 and it has served me well; however, a new chapter of my life has started and I think it's time to start fresh.

As I read up on my old blog, it strikes me how different I was back then. My blog definitely reflected who I was at that stage in my life: hopelessly naive and eager to experience what the world had to offer. In some respects, I am still that eager boy inside however, my youth is tempered by the wisdom of knowing what I want in life and how to achieve it. I hope this is reflected in my writing.

So, the question you may ask is, why call my blog, "The Sexiest Composer Alive?" Well, apart from that obvious truism, sexiness is an underrated quality in composers today, and my goal is to "bring sexy back" if you please. Classical music in the 20th century has had a reputation of being very un-sexy. As the new century sheds off its prepubescence, my aim is to create sexy music again.

Of course, pop music today is all about the sexiness, albeit a commercial and highly temporal type. It has always been about sex, frankly, and that's one of the reasons why I love it (take Prince for example). Nevertheless, the focus of this blog is classical music and my experience as a composer and as a sexy person.

Please stay tuned...