ted hearne
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// music // links
// webpage
// katrina ballads
Sep 13, 2009
8:00pm
indulged in a decadent visit to the pancake carousel this morning…
Katrina Ballads won the Gaudeamus Prize last night!
this announcement, coming at the end of a nearly 3-hour orchestral concert, was not only a massive honor, but also came with some pretty overwhelming shock, causing me to, immediately after receiving the news, lumber around the crowded lobby in uncontrolled spasmic jolts. after no more than three minutes of this i managed to knock a few full wine glasses off a waiter’s tray by swinging around with the giant bouquet of flowers i was apparently holding in my hand, causing a general commotion and quickly reestablishing me as the hulking klutzy american those who know me will not deny i am. the whole night was a wild experience; so exciting, and truly truly humbling to be recognized among a group of composers from which each and every one possesses a strong and compelling voice.
one thing from this week that will stick with me is the discussion several of us composers had after the performance of katrina ballads on thursday. the topic of ‘political music’ - that is: music that, like KB, directly addresses a current subject matter - seemed to spark a lot of interest, and seemed to divide us into two opposing camps. this is of course a discussion a lot of us have had before, and i’ve had many debates about the reasons for directly addressing political subject matter times since writing this piece, but i’ve never before felt such a difference between my own motivations and those of european composers in my generation.
i tend to feel that all music is inherently political (whether there is text or not, whether it is ‘about’ anything or not), simply because it is inextricably linked to the place and time at which it was created. the ideas in music are born of other ideas and strains of artistic thought surrounding them, and because no human mind exists in a total vacuum, music has a powerful communicative ability. music that is structured to adhere to only its own constructive principles and be perfectly, beautifully inward looking - while so wonderful when done well - cannot escape its political identity. and composers who chase ‘music for eternity’ are lying to themselves. (if grad school is good for anything, it is good for learning how to repeat certain ideas over and over. this is one i seem to be repeating a lot, for better or worse.)
i got a lot of resistance from some (but not all) of my european colleagues, though. i was totally fascinated, and learned a lot from talking to everyone, but was perplexed by the idea i heard the most, which was not merely that europeans don’t think about music that way, but that they could not. that there was something about being a composer from europe that would not compute with writing a piece with external (and especially nonmusical) references.
of course the one dutch guy in the room (thomas bensdorp, one of the many sick composers i was privileged enough to meet this week) disagreed, but also made the point that luigi nono’s most ‘political’ work wasn’t his big communist pieces, or his music for the working people, but rather the experimental instrumental music he created at the end of his life by working with improvisation and jazz musicians. the hungarians were adamant that the recent history of communism meant their composers were conditioned to avoid all political references, i think the room was divided among those who felt that directly referencing current material did not necessarily diminish the power of a piece of music, and those who felt it cheapened the quality of the work… or made it something else entirely.
getting together with other people that think it’s a good idea to devote their lives to writing music, and listening to each other’s stuff, and discussing it, is such a valuable experience - especially when those people aren’t hanging out with all the same people you are, and especially when lots of those other people are from different cultures. grateful that i got the chance this week.
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Page 1 of 1
bio // calendar
// music // links
// webpage
// katrina ballads
Sep 13, 2009
8:00pm
indulged in a decadent visit to the pancake carousel this morning…
Katrina Ballads won the Gaudeamus Prize last night!
this announcement, coming at the end of a nearly 3-hour orchestral concert, was not only a massive honor, but also came with some pretty overwhelming shock, causing me to, immediately after receiving the news, lumber around the crowded lobby in uncontrolled spasmic jolts. after no more than three minutes of this i managed to knock a few full wine glasses off a waiter’s tray by swinging around with the giant bouquet of flowers i was apparently holding in my hand, causing a general commotion and quickly reestablishing me as the hulking klutzy american those who know me will not deny i am. the whole night was a wild experience; so exciting, and truly truly humbling to be recognized among a group of composers from which each and every one possesses a strong and compelling voice.
one thing from this week that will stick with me is the discussion several of us composers had after the performance of katrina ballads on thursday. the topic of ‘political music’ - that is: music that, like KB, directly addresses a current subject matter - seemed to spark a lot of interest, and seemed to divide us into two opposing camps. this is of course a discussion a lot of us have had before, and i’ve had many debates about the reasons for directly addressing political subject matter times since writing this piece, but i’ve never before felt such a difference between my own motivations and those of european composers in my generation.
i tend to feel that all music is inherently political (whether there is text or not, whether it is ‘about’ anything or not), simply because it is inextricably linked to the place and time at which it was created. the ideas in music are born of other ideas and strains of artistic thought surrounding them, and because no human mind exists in a total vacuum, music has a powerful communicative ability. music that is structured to adhere to only its own constructive principles and be perfectly, beautifully inward looking - while so wonderful when done well - cannot escape its political identity. and composers who chase ‘music for eternity’ are lying to themselves. (if grad school is good for anything, it is good for learning how to repeat certain ideas over and over. this is one i seem to be repeating a lot, for better or worse.)
i got a lot of resistance from some (but not all) of my european colleagues, though. i was totally fascinated, and learned a lot from talking to everyone, but was perplexed by the idea i heard the most, which was not merely that europeans don’t think about music that way, but that they could not. that there was something about being a composer from europe that would not compute with writing a piece with external (and especially nonmusical) references.
of course the one dutch guy in the room (thomas bensdorp, one of the many sick composers i was privileged enough to meet this week) disagreed, but also made the point that luigi nono’s most ‘political’ work wasn’t his big communist pieces, or his music for the working people, but rather the experimental instrumental music he created at the end of his life by working with improvisation and jazz musicians. the hungarians were adamant that the recent history of communism meant their composers were conditioned to avoid all political references, i think the room was divided among those who felt that directly referencing current material did not necessarily diminish the power of a piece of music, and those who felt it cheapened the quality of the work… or made it something else entirely.
getting together with other people that think it’s a good idea to devote their lives to writing music, and listening to each other’s stuff, and discussing it, is such a valuable experience - especially when those people aren’t hanging out with all the same people you are, and especially when lots of those other people are from different cultures. grateful that i got the chance this week.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Page 1 of 1
indulged in a decadent visit to the pancake carousel this morning…
Katrina Ballads won the Gaudeamus Prize last night!
this announcement, coming at the end of a nearly 3-hour orchestral concert, was not only a massive honor, but also came with some pretty overwhelming shock, causing me to, immediately after receiving the news, lumber around the crowded lobby in uncontrolled spasmic jolts. after no more than three minutes of this i managed to knock a few full wine glasses off a waiter’s tray by swinging around with the giant bouquet of flowers i was apparently holding in my hand, causing a general commotion and quickly reestablishing me as the hulking klutzy american those who know me will not deny i am. the whole night was a wild experience; so exciting, and truly truly humbling to be recognized among a group of composers from which each and every one possesses a strong and compelling voice.
one thing from this week that will stick with me is the discussion several of us composers had after the performance of katrina ballads on thursday. the topic of ‘political music’ - that is: music that, like KB, directly addresses a current subject matter - seemed to spark a lot of interest, and seemed to divide us into two opposing camps. this is of course a discussion a lot of us have had before, and i’ve had many debates about the reasons for directly addressing political subject matter times since writing this piece, but i’ve never before felt such a difference between my own motivations and those of european composers in my generation.
i tend to feel that all music is inherently political (whether there is text or not, whether it is ‘about’ anything or not), simply because it is inextricably linked to the place and time at which it was created. the ideas in music are born of other ideas and strains of artistic thought surrounding them, and because no human mind exists in a total vacuum, music has a powerful communicative ability. music that is structured to adhere to only its own constructive principles and be perfectly, beautifully inward looking - while so wonderful when done well - cannot escape its political identity. and composers who chase ‘music for eternity’ are lying to themselves. (if grad school is good for anything, it is good for learning how to repeat certain ideas over and over. this is one i seem to be repeating a lot, for better or worse.)
i got a lot of resistance from some (but not all) of my european colleagues, though. i was totally fascinated, and learned a lot from talking to everyone, but was perplexed by the idea i heard the most, which was not merely that europeans don’t think about music that way, but that they could not. that there was something about being a composer from europe that would not compute with writing a piece with external (and especially nonmusical) references.
of course the one dutch guy in the room (thomas bensdorp, one of the many sick composers i was privileged enough to meet this week) disagreed, but also made the point that luigi nono’s most ‘political’ work wasn’t his big communist pieces, or his music for the working people, but rather the experimental instrumental music he created at the end of his life by working with improvisation and jazz musicians. the hungarians were adamant that the recent history of communism meant their composers were conditioned to avoid all political references, i think the room was divided among those who felt that directly referencing current material did not necessarily diminish the power of a piece of music, and those who felt it cheapened the quality of the work… or made it something else entirely.
getting together with other people that think it’s a good idea to devote their lives to writing music, and listening to each other’s stuff, and discussing it, is such a valuable experience - especially when those people aren’t hanging out with all the same people you are, and especially when lots of those other people are from different cultures. grateful that i got the chance this week.
