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COMPOSERS' CORNER

with Brett Abigaña

VOL. II

April, 2016
Why Should I Work With a Living Composer?

Every composer I know has been confronted with some version of this question. Sometimes the question is based on well-meaning ignorance - "How do I find a composer whose music I like?", and sometimes it's based on budget considerations - "I'd love to have something written for my ensemble, but I can't afford it!”. Sometimes the question stems from curricular concerns - "I'd love to commission a piece, but can I use it to teach? Won't it be too hard?" and sometimes it's a little more shortsighted - "Nobody has written anything worth playing since La Fiesta Mexicana!". If one looks, one will no doubt find reasons not to work with a living composer, but this month's Composers' Corner is devoted to exploring only some of the many benefits of commissioning and performing new works with your ensembles. Exactly HOW to go about that process will be discussed in a future installment. As always, we welcome your thoughts and questions about this exciting and important topic!

From a pedagogical perspective, it's been my experience that one of the most satisfying things you can do for your students is to give them a piece that they haven't heard or played: the educational value in that is incalculable, and made even more profound if you, the teacher, learns the piece with and through them. It follows then that the experience is heightened if that piece was written specifically for your ensemble. You can create an atmosphere in the classroom wherein your students can truly take pride in that new piece, knowing that their premiere of the piece is the performance to which all subsequent performances will be compared. When you also add in other factors such as the ability for students to speak with the composer, or even have some small say in the scope or subject matter of the piece, it can really be a uniquely memorable and meaningful experience for your students.

One of the most common concerns I hear is that new music will be too difficult for young people. Let's just be clear right up front: that's not always the case! In fact, if you communicate and collaborate with the composer on exactly what you're looking for as far as difficulty as he or she writes the piece, you can ensure a result that is appropriate for your students' abilities. Adaptability and the capacity to tailor a piece specific to your ensemble and their needs should be a factor in your choice of a composer. It has always been my opinion that a good composer should be able to make good music for both a beginning elementary school recorder ensemble and the New York Philharmonic. After all, Beethoven wrote both Für Elise and the Große Fuge! Admittedly, this is a challenging prospect for most composers who find themselves frequently writing at a certain level of difficulty, but it is a challenge that I think many composers would love to tackle, especially if it means bringing a younger audience to new music. In the end, whether you need a vehicle for introducing flutter-tongueing to your clarinet section, a way to drive home the third valve extension to a reticent trumpet section, or a way to offer someone closure and peace after a difficult life event, a personalized piece allows you to offer your students an experience they won't forget.

I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with other composers, conductors, educators, and industry professionals decrying the ongoing trend of formulaic, mass-produced, similar-sounding music for educational ensembles. We've all seen those pieces out there, with their shiny covers, rounded binary forms, and obligatory syncopated snare drum parts. Now of course, this isn't to say that the music can't be powerful, moving, and artistically and aesthetically advanced, but too often publishers will encourage trends in certain aesthetics or forms that happen to sell well in that quarter by asking their composers to write five more pieces, "just like that one." This means that the piece that originally spoke to a musician is buried in a landslide of pieces meant to capitalize on the original's success. I think we can all agree that this isn't a sustainable model. What if there was something we could all do about it? As it turns out, there is! By commissioning composers directly, you can avoid that mass-produced, over-marketed sound, and end up with a truly unique piece of music which, rather than being lost in a concert program, can be the jewel of it. Another option is to simply look for extant pieces "off the beaten path" that are often included in smaller, boutique publishers' catalogues. Either way, you'll be supporting the creation of good new music, and by extension, you will be supporting those composers who write it. A good place to start is by visiting www.world-projects.net and clicking on the “Shop New Music” tab: there you’ll find new works in just about every style imaginable, ranging from Andrew Smith’s Black Sand (for wind band, Grade 3), and Justin Casinghino’s Not But a Seed (for chorus, Grade 4), to Jeremy Van Buskirk’s …such as I am, you will be (for orchestra, Grade 3.5) and my Chorale and Blaspheme (for wind band, Grade 5.5), and of course many more!

Finally, I often hear from conductors that they would love to commission a piece, but don't have room in their already strained budgets. Of course, this is a serious consideration, and often the primary deterrent to an educator who would otherwise relish the prospect. For now, suffice it to say that many composers are more concerned with getting their music played than with making a buck, and frequently, everything is negotiable. Stay tuned in a future installment of Composers' Corner for a commissioner's guide on how to find, commission, and work with a composer, including options regarding payment, publicity, outreach, and much more!

As always, we welcome your feedback and comments! I can be reached by email at [email protected], and your comments may be included and/or addressed in future installments of Composers' Corner.

Stay tuned for next month's issue of Composers' Corner,
featuring an interview with renowned conductor, composer, and educator,
John Carnahan
Director of Bands at California State University Long Beach's Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.

 
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