Re:Melody: was [MMM] Re: New music up on mp3.com

"Jonathan M. Szanto" wrote:

> Paul and all,
>
> {you wrote...}
> >what i'm dying to hear is for you or joseph pehrson or someone to
> develop
> >a strong voice as a *melodist*, along the lines of a lou harrison or
> a joe
> >maneri (to pick two extremely contrasting examples)
>
> It sounds as if you believe that development as a melodist is
> something
> that can be crafted or learned; I tend to think that the ability to
> come up
> with compelling melodic material is a more innate quality. While
> harmonic
> creativity seems both a skill and an art, and other techniques such as
>
> counterpoint and 'orchestration' lean even more toward the craft end
> of
> things, my listening to both composers and improvisors leads me to
> believe
> that melody is more in the domain of personality and not learned
> technique.
>
> Maybe others on the list have ideas as to whether melody is a more
> personal
> reflection than other aspects of music-making, or if one can train
> oneself
> to become a gifted 'melodist'.
>
> Cheers,
> Jon
>
> Lou Harrison claims that Schoenberg told him to listen to nothing but
> Mozart in order to learn about the art of melody. I have to confess
> that I've caught myself singing in my head the opening motif of K488
> every day for most of my life. Honestly. In fact I could hum the whole
> concerto by heart. Must be something in that. I'd tend to take advice
> from somebody like Schoenberg.

Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic. He
'practised' poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and
practise the craft well and you stand a better chance of letting some
art sneak in.

My tuppenceworth

Kind Regards

Alison,

{you wrote...}
>Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic. He 'practised' >poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and practise the craft >well and you stand a better chance of letting some art sneak in.

Spot on. Back to Lou Harrison, who says the following:

"Virgil Thomson has a fine method for reactivating anyone who is "blocked": simply compose one short piece a day. It must be a complete composition each day. It is like "kindling" - one day along will come a more important idea that will require extensive work - the flame is thus lit and away you go! It is important, he says, to keep regular appointments with the muse - if she doesn't arrive then it's not your fault, at least You are there!"

Cheers,
Jon

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., "Jonathan M. Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

/makemicromusic/topicId_3779.html#3781

> Alison,
>
> {you wrote...}
> >Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic.
He 'practised'
> >poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and practise the
craft
> >well and you stand a better chance of letting some art sneak in.
>
> Spot on. Back to Lou Harrison, who says the following:
>
> "Virgil Thomson has a fine method for reactivating anyone who
is "blocked":
> simply compose one short piece a day. It must be a complete
composition
> each day. It is like "kindling" - one day along will come a more
important
> idea that will require extensive work - the flame is thus lit and
away you
> go! It is important, he says, to keep regular appointments with the
muse -
> if she doesn't arrive then it's not your fault, at least You are
there!"
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

gotterdamnerung... finally I agree *entirely* with Jon for a
change.... :-)

JP

"Jonathan M. Szanto" wrote:

> Alison,
>
> {you wrote...}
> >Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic. He
> 'practised'
> >poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and practise the
> craft
> >well and you stand a better chance of letting some art sneak in.
>
> Spot on. Back to Lou Harrison, who says the following:
>
> "Virgil Thomson has a fine method for reactivating anyone who is
> "blocked":
> simply compose one short piece a day. It must be a complete
> composition
> each day. It is like "kindling" - one day along will come a more
> important
> idea that will require extensive work - the flame is thus lit and away
> you
> go! It is important, he says, to keep regular appointments with the
> muse -
> if she doesn't arrive then it's not your fault, at least You are
> there!"
>
> Cheers,
> Jon
>

Touche� Jon - I'll pin that up on my "inspiration" board. To counter
your parry here's a thrust from "le monsieur russe"

Q. Have you any late-hour prescriptions for a young composer Mr
Stravinsky?

A. If he can turn an honest million outside music he might seriously
consider neglecting his talents for a time and turn it. Otherwise, and
untempted by all lesser sums, he should go directly underground and do
nothing but compose; that is, not strive for Foundation awards, academic
prizes, college presidencies, foreign fellowships; not attend cultural
congresses; not give interviews; not prattle on the radio about music
appreciation; not review new scores (except his own, pseudonymously);
and not push, prompt, maneuver, advertise, finagle, operate.

I wonder what he'd have made of our newsgroup.....

Best wishes.

>

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...>
wrote:

/makemicromusic/topicId_3779.html#3789

>
>
> "Jonathan M. Szanto" wrote:
>
> > Alison,
> >
> > {you wrote...}
> > >Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic. He
> > 'practised'
> > >poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and practise
the
> > craft
> > >well and you stand a better chance of letting some art sneak in.
> >
> > Spot on. Back to Lou Harrison, who says the following:
> >
> > "Virgil Thomson has a fine method for reactivating anyone who is
> > "blocked":
> > simply compose one short piece a day. It must be a complete
> > composition
> > each day. It is like "kindling" - one day along will come a more
> > important
> > idea that will require extensive work - the flame is thus lit and
away
> > you
> > go! It is important, he says, to keep regular appointments with
the
> > muse -
> > if she doesn't arrive then it's not your fault, at least You are
> > there!"
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Jon
> >
>
> Touche´ Jon - I'll pin that up on my "inspiration" board. To counter
> your parry here's a thrust from "le monsieur russe"
>
> Q. Have you any late-hour prescriptions for a young composer Mr
> Stravinsky?
>
> A. If he can turn an honest million outside music he might seriously
> consider neglecting his talents for a time and turn it. Otherwise,
and
> untempted by all lesser sums, he should go directly underground and
do
> nothing but compose; that is, not strive for Foundation awards,
academic
> prizes, college presidencies, foreign fellowships; not attend
cultural
> congresses; not give interviews; not prattle on the radio about
music
> appreciation; not review new scores (except his own,
pseudonymously);
> and not push, prompt, maneuver, advertise, finagle, operate.
>
> I wonder what he'd have made of our newsgroup.....
>
>
> Best wishes.
>
> >

***Also, don't forget that the "real" Mr. Stravinsky came up through
the most *practical* of musical channels, the ballet world (kind of
like Michael Torke today).

Would Stravinsky be Stravinsky without Diaghilev and his huge
exposure at that time?? Dunno. Maybe a good question
for "metatuning..." (since Stravinsky composed *very little*
microtonal music... maybe a couple of quartertones, but I don't even
know about that...??)

J. Pehrson

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...>
wrote:

> > Lou Harrison claims that Schoenberg told him to listen to nothing
but
> > Mozart in order to learn about the art of melody. I have to
confess
> > that I've caught myself singing in my head the opening motif of
K488
> > every day for most of my life. Honestly. In fact I could hum the
whole
> > concerto by heart. Must be something in that. I'd tend to take
advice
> > from somebody like Schoenberg.
>
> Additionally I've been inspired by TS Elliot's work ethic. He
> 'practised' poetry day in, day out, and got good at it. Learn and
> practise the craft well and you stand a better chance of letting
some
> art sneak in.
>
> My tuppenceworth
>
> Kind Regards

nice to hear you echoing (independently) my sentiments, alison. i'm
looking forward to hearing some "unsork" material someday!

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:

> Would Stravinsky be Stravinsky without Diaghilev and his huge
> exposure at that time?? Dunno. Maybe a good question
> for "metatuning..." (since Stravinsky composed *very little*
> microtonal music... maybe a couple of quartertones, but I don't
even
> know about that...??)

no quartertones that i know of, but he did say that the next
inevitable step for music, for the next generation of musicians, was
in the dimension of pitch, the expansion of pitch resources . . .
anyone have that quote handy?

(reply to metatuning, as this is off-topic)