Questions tagged [composers]
Composers is a tag that describes questions about individual composers and their works. For matters of composition itself, see 'composition'.
63
questions
3
votes
0answers
95 views
Did Stravinsky ever work backwards?
I've always been intrigued by this little passage in Stravinsky's "Fireworks" (op. 4). It seems to me to be many things all at once, each masterfully handled. It's a nifty little canon, a ...
3
votes
1answer
146 views
Do composer writing groups exist?
I was listening to a lecture series aimed at young (university-level) writers. The instructor, who was himself a successful, well-known, published author, gave real-world advice to his students both ...
3
votes
1answer
95 views
Who chooses an orchestra's repertoire?
Who chooses the repertoire for a large, state-level orchestra (or the orchestra of major city)?
In my experience, in smaller amateur orchestras the conductor is relatively easy to contact (via email), ...
1
vote
2answers
150 views
Why do I always hear the Zelda theme in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major?
In the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Op. 35, Violin Concerto in D Major, in the very soft part at the middle of the song (07:19 in this Yehudi Menuhin recording), I've always heard the Zelda theme. ...
3
votes
1answer
158 views
Does it have a name what John Williams is doing in these pieces (and lots of others)?
I noticed a very common thing John Williams does.
My knowledge in music theory is pretty limited.
The only thing I could name are lots of passing notes and chromaticism? - but maybe there is a special ...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
Where to find modern Romantic style piano composers? [closed]
I've been enjoying Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Rach and other composers in the Romantic style, specifically piano solos and occasionally trios. I particularly like Chopin's Ballades, Nocturnes and ...
2
votes
3answers
516 views
Composers who use mathematical / algorithmic approaches in their compositions? [closed]
First, I am not a musician, just a hobby programmer who tries himself on mathematical compositions with python.
I am experimenting with mathematical techniques to create sheet based music, and have ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Do the world-renowned classical composers ever seriously modify their compositions after their works got published by publishers?
Do the world-renowned classical composers ever seriously or in minor ways modify their music compositions after their works got published by publishers and after their works are already openly ...
4
votes
1answer
204 views
Where did Scriabin define his note to color mapping?
I'm searching for the root source of Alexander Scriabin's note color mapping.
Wikipedia states in: Clavier à lumières
that it is located in the score of Prometheus: Poem of Fire.
But, but, but in ...
3
votes
2answers
115 views
Did Nicolas Gombert compose a clean change of note or slides as endings in his motets?
A member of the Facebook group Barbershop Harmony said that in live performances of Gombert motets, the Bass will randomly drop an octave on the last chord, within one syllable, whilst the other ...
0
votes
2answers
219 views
Does Mozart use music theory, and if so, what type of music theory? [closed]
I have heard various people argue that we are taking rules in music theory too seriously these days, often taking them as strict rules (such as the use of V-I cadences to end pieces), while earlier ...
0
votes
0answers
64 views
Finding information on piano pieces?
I would like to know if there is a way by which I can get more information on piano pieces. For example, information about the piece itself, what the composer tried to convey through it, the story ...
0
votes
1answer
418 views
Why is Beethoven said to be the greatest composer of all time? [closed]
I have always found that there is unanimity in establishing that Beethoven has been the most important composer of all time. In the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica, for example, "The German ...
2
votes
4answers
108 views
What is sufficient information to identify a classical music piece?
I am a software engineer, and I am downloading Public Domain Classical Music. The original filenames are an inconsistent mess, and I would like to correct that. I have some metadata at my disposal, ...
5
votes
2answers
555 views
How would one go about composing a Tintinnabuli piece?
I've been doing some research on the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt lately, known best for his simple yet highly emotive Tintinnabuli compositions. The theory behind it is incredibly dense and difficult ...
7
votes
9answers
738 views
Can an original composition be an arrangement?
Sometimes I'll see on discogs.com a song will say string arrangements by so and so... and it's an original song by them.
Can original compositions be arrangements?
What makes an arrangement?
Can ...
2
votes
1answer
41 views
Catalog for Mikhail Glinka's work?
Is there any existing effort to categorize Glinka's compositions?
Like András Szőllősy (Sz.) and László Somfai (BB.) for Béla Bartók's works, I have noticed quite many sites providing catalog number ...
2
votes
1answer
190 views
Bach Reference in "The Penitent Man Will Pass" [from Indiana Jones]
I was recently listening to the composition John Williams - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Penitent Man Will Pass and was wondering if the first few notes of the theme of that composition are ...
2
votes
3answers
199 views
Mapping from 26 alphabets to notes
For instance, the name HAYDN is mapped to the note sequence BADDG in Ravel's "Menuet sur le nom d'Hadyn". And the name CLARA is mapped to CBAA in Schumann's Piano concerto. Why is that the case? Is ...
-2
votes
3answers
531 views
Any classical music written for dancing?
I thought about it the other day - Virtually all popular music in the 20th century was written for the dance floor.
Is there any classical music written specifically for dances? I think I don't know ...
9
votes
3answers
374 views
Unintentional plagiarism while composing
I have recently started composing using some knowledge that I got after a few months of studying counterpoint and harmony (well it is more like trying to compose). And I have mentioned that quite ...
4
votes
1answer
51 views
Is there a way to record music with a collaborator remotely and live?
Is there a way to record music with a collaborator remotely and live? Appreciate the help!
1
vote
0answers
288 views
Did Beethoven write any modes other than the Ionian / Aeolian / Lydian modes?
The Ionian and the Aeolian modes are considered major and natural minor keys, and all composers used these modes all the time, including Beethoven, who also wrote Lydian mode in one of his string ...
0
votes
3answers
149 views
To compose music, do you have to be able to hear?
I am asking this question out of sheer curiosity. Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf but still made some amazing songs. Just like Beethoven, do your ears have to work normally (Like not deaf), to be able ...
1
vote
1answer
184 views
What did Ligeti mean by 'shimmering effect'?
Stephen A. Taylor, Chopin, Pygmies, and Tempo Fugue: Ligeti's "Automne a Varsovie", Vol 3.3., Online Journal of the Society for Music Theory.
I looked up 'shimmering' on ODO. David Bruce explains ...
3
votes
3answers
286 views
Combining forms to make a new musical form
Has there ever been a composer between Baroque and early Romantic periods (within piano literature) who created a new form based on a combination of previously separate forms into a new iteration or ...
-1
votes
2answers
1k views
Is it possible that Beethoven (after turning deaf) “heard” all of his symphonies in a different key? [closed]
According to this article on cmuse.org,
Even though Mozart is the only Western musician and composer who was explicitly acknowledged as having perfect pitch, Bach, Händel, Chopin and Beethoven are ...
2
votes
2answers
528 views
minimalist compositions [closed]
Thanks for all the responses. It struck me that the work of Reich and Glass was/is mathematical in arrangement. If LaMonte Young and Terry Riley started the movement on the coast then Reich and Glass ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Who did introduce the mediant keys in to music harmony progression?
Which composer(s) introduced as the first time mediant chords and mediant keys in their compositions - or in which period the use of this kind of modulation was coming up?
4
votes
3answers
2k views
are there piano pieces where the hands play in different keys?
Do you know music for piano where the two hands don't have to play in the same key?
2
votes
3answers
954 views
Distinguish music devices: Sequencer, Launchpad, Sampler, Synthesizer
I've been having a hard time figuring out function of these below music devices:
1. Beatstep sequencer
2. Launchpad | Ableton Push
3. Sampler
4. Sequencer
5. Synthesizer
For example, if I use ...
1
vote
0answers
347 views
How to describe unmistakable similarity in two Andrew Lloyd Webber songs?
So, I'm a very elementary music student with a theatrical background, and I want to ask a professor about what I hear as a very marked similarity between a couple of songs from different Andrew Lloyd ...
2
votes
1answer
161 views
Has anyone else composed for the Mahler Hammer?
The title pretty much sums it up: Has anyone else (other than the composer for whom it's named) written music that incorporates the "Mahler Hammer™"?
Some more links:
Walt Martin's blog about ...
2
votes
1answer
109 views
Single composer sheet music book -- name on each piece?
It seems that whenever there is an album (book of sheet music) and all the pieces are from a single composer, the name is not repeated with each piece.
I wonder, is this a strict rule? Especially, ...
14
votes
6answers
5k views
Why do music directors use keyboard (or similar) instruments for composing music?
I have seen that most of the film music directors use keyed music instruments for composing music. I hardly saw directors use other instruments like strings or wind instruments for the same. What ...
13
votes
1answer
3k views
Why is Debussy's remark brilliant (on going out and smoking, at the start of Beethoven's developments)?
From: Charles Rosen. Critical Entertainments. p. 117 Bottom - 118 Top.
In the same way, attacks on Beethoven could be profound and even persuasive, and would continue to be so after his death ...
0
votes
2answers
157 views
Industry Standard for Psychological Mapping of Emotion to Musical Keys
I have found several references to map a key to a psychological feeling or psyche archetype. Is there an industry standard for musical scoring?
2
votes
1answer
549 views
How much math did Iannis Xenakis understand?
Paul Griffiths wrote on 2011 Feb 5:
Iannis Xenakis, the Greek-French composer who often used highly sophisticated scientific and mathematical theories to arrive at music of primitive power [...] ...
0
votes
1answer
287 views
How much math did Pierre Boulez understand?
David Schiff MM (Manhattan School of Music, 1974), DMA (Juilliard, 1979) labels him mathematician:
I would propose a different model of Boulez's career: the typical trajectory of a mathematical ...
53
votes
11answers
36k views
Why isn't there a classical composer like Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart today? [closed]
Why there aren't composers writing in a classical style today?
Why don't we hear of classical composers today like we do of Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart?
My question may be strange, but I am really ...
1
vote
2answers
344 views
Can one's musical ‘ear’ be trained with practice and dedication? [duplicate]
These great composers of the past: Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and my personal favourite Elgar, all lived in a time where they had only a piano to work out their various symphonies ...
4
votes
1answer
165 views
Messiaen Prelude Colors
According to wikipedia, each of Messiaen's 8 preludes is associated with various colors.
1 La colombe (The dove) Orange, with violet veins.
2 Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste (Song of ...
0
votes
1answer
76 views
Piano finger apparatus in history or film
Can anyone recall the movie where a piano player was using an apparatus to strengthen (or stretch) their ring finger. I keep picturing AMADEUS but i can't find references. If not, does any one know of ...
1
vote
1answer
272 views
Missing works by Sylvius Leopold Weiss
I recently heard the Chaconne in G minor by Weiss, a guitar transcription, and started looking about/for it. According to Wikipedia it seems that it is part of a full Sonata in G minor but even though ...
3
votes
2answers
449 views
Do there exist contemporary composers writing in the style of Viennese classical music?
Do there exist known contemporary composers who work in the style of the so-called Viennese classical period, and if so, who?
2
votes
2answers
159 views
New technology being studied or developed to record the song in our heads?
As composers we sometimes imagine a whole song with drums, bass, guitar, keys and vocal melodies in our head, but usually in the process of composing we sometimes lose what we were thinking.
Is there ...
11
votes
6answers
3k views
How do composers get their works performed?
How do composers (professional or not) get their works performed by orchestras and soloists?
While we're at it, how and where do composers publish their music and where do orchestras/musicians/...
1
vote
3answers
4k views
Getting the piece out of your head
Many have noticed, I guess, that when you make up a song in your head you can hear many aspects, lots of instruments, different melodies and sometimes create a full arrangement.
Most of this can lead ...
2
votes
2answers
667 views
Deja-vu composers
I'm having trouble with composing music sometimes. The problem is that i very often feel that i'm copying someone, somebody's melody, harmony, rhythm, chord progression or arrpegio. I think many ...
5
votes
3answers
264 views
What is the earliest instance of a composer/theorist publishing an analysis of his/her own music?
In the final chapter of his Harmonielehre, Arnold Schoenberg analyzes a brief passage from his own compositional output. (You can find it here, on written page 418 [page 432 of the PDF].)
I'm looking ...
