Writing with a Purpose

In the past couple weeks, Sarah and I have been discussing harmony, specifically trying to defend the use of tonality (in its broad definition) and melodies (both “tonal” and abstract) in new music.  In adding to this, I want to discuss the idea of harmonically purposeful composing.

Why is Melody a Dirty Word?

I was sitting in a composition seminar one day when a fellow composer presented a piece that was fairly atonal (meaning there was no tonal center, or key- see Natalie's previous post on tonality for a brief explanation). The discussion after the piece was presented focused largely on whether or not there was a melody at one point, which clearly outraged several of my colleagues. Part of the problem was that they felt a melody didn't fit in the piece based on the rest of its contents, which may have been a perfectly valid point. But a few disparaging comments about melody were made, and that bothered me. What's wrong with a good melody? And what have melodies done to deserve our wrath?

The “Tonal” Composer

I know we’re long past the days of the mid-20th century, when serialism and high modernism reigned in the American academy. Yet, despite the academy’s relatively more recent embracing of minimalism and post-modernism, you still run into people here and there who suggest that there’s no place for tonality in the art music of today.

Happy New Year!

We will resume posting shortly- please visit again soon!

Happy Holidays from Alphabet Soup!

In the spirit of the holidays we wanted to share a few links with our readers:

A Depressing but Interesting Read

To PhD or not PhD, that is the question. This is a topic that we will certainly address in much greater detail at some point, but right now I want to share an article from The Economist on the topic (spoiler alert: the author's answer to my question seems to be "not to PhD" because it's a waste of time).

Commissions Continued...

Sarah and I have often discussed the topic of commissions, so I am glad that she’s started the topic here.  I, too, am incredibly grateful to all the performers I have worked with.  Commissions are tricky to navigate and hopefully discussing it will help us to figure out how to create a working relationship that positively benefits both parties.