GOM Classical Composers – 10 Questions

GOM: To start with, since most people are probably not familiar with your music, could you briefly explain your own personal musical aesthetic?

Composers: Steve Gutheinz – I strive to express myself without inhibition and remain true to my musical self.
Jeff Harrington – My aesthetic is a combination of an obsession with drama and momentum and an obsession with material that rings in the ears after the piece is done. My inspirations are African American blues, jazz and funk, and Western European 18th-20th century concert music.
Rafael Hernandez – My style is mainly focused of the catching and maintaining the listener’s attention through the use of rudimentary materials mixed with some arbitrary processes to liven things up.
James Holt – To create a sense of journey, drama, and excitement. To try and connect with or latch into the power of a musical gesture and its development. And also to explore spiritual or philosophical ideas musically that I’ve been thinking about.
Elliott McKinley – I don’t really like to over-talk with the subject of music. Thus what I can say is that I like to write what I like to hear… and what comes to my inner-ear. Sometimes the music just follows its own course and then, later, one can analyze. So maybe I have some aesthetics whatsoever!
Van der Rohe – That depends on who’s asking. To some people I’d say that I write post-modern contemporary academic music infused with pop culture influences. To others I’d say that I write techno. Both answers are true, and both musics are completely unrelated, I think. I used to pretend that they weren’t but I’m pretty sure now that they are. There is an underlying aesthetic for both, I suppose – try to not suck.
Tony Lanman – First and foremost, I write music that I enjoy listening to. If I can’t listen to it, or get bored by it, I don’t keep it. I usually look to JS Bach as a model for composition, but I also listen to a lot of popular music, so that gets into my music as well.

GOM: Is classical music dead? (Don’t write a thesis)

Composers: Gutheinz – I just recently saw Dawn Upshaw sing a concert of new music in Ojai, out in the middle of nowhere, to a packed audience. In my world, that is not a sign of something that is dead or dying. I care passionately for music and I want to see the art form last and flourish as much as anyone else out there, but I don’t think it is dead. There is always room for growth, though!
Harrington – Of course not. In fact, it’s probably healthier than its every been. There’s a very small but growing group of people that are new to classical music, and who don’t use it for muzak. In the past, classical music was practically a decorative art with the vast majority of the audience either using it for social gatherings or for relaxation.
Hernandez – No. People just aren’t very aware of it. It really depends on how you want to spin it. If you gauge its pulse by comparing its market-share data and sales figures against other, more robust genres (in terms of these aspects) like pop and top 40, then yes, it is dead. Very dead. However, if you decide to look at growing ticket sales (albeit slow), the explosion of grant and private funding opportunities, and the growing fan base it has in the younger demographic, then no, it is alive. Very alive. Believe what you want.
Holt – No, I think it is just going through a phase…some kind of growing pains.
McKinley – It smells funny…oh, that was Frank Zappa on jazz. YES, classical music is dead. Classical music died in 1820 or so. What we have today is simply music. If it is for dancing, serious listening, wallpaper, fucking, or whatever, its just music. I guess the term “classical” makes me feel strange. So I never use it anymore.
Rohe – Yes. I could say more, but it’d be a thesis. (See Van der Rohe’s article on this subject in the Articles section of GOM)
Lanman – Just because a species is endangered, doesn’t mean it’s extinct. Actually, I feel that the classical music world is taking a turn for the better, and has been for about the last ten years or so – especially when it comes to new music. Of course, when you look at the popularity of classical music next to popular music, classical music looks like and ant ready to get squashed, but in reality there are literally millions of people on the Earth that love classical music, and yes – even new music.

GOM: What impact (if any) has film music made on contemporary concert music?

Composers: Gutheinz – It is difficult for me to think of film music as a genre or style. It is music that accompanies picture and ANY style of music can do that! And pretty much every style of music in existence today has found its way into one film or another. With that said, the answer to your question is an obvious yes. Movies are a huge part of contemporary culture worldwide, and almost everyone goes to see them. So, a composer would have to be living in a vacuum to not be exposed and influenced in one way or another by films and the music that accompanies them. Something that I find exciting and fairly unique to film scoring these days: When scoring a film, it is possible to conceive of music that would not work on the concert stage. I’ve certainly done it and have produced film scores for real instruments that would never sound right if performed live. Think about it this way: in a film score you can hire 20 of the best trombone players in the world if you so desire and even overdub them and mix them in interesting ways. Then you can add say 15 harps or 20 clarinets, whatever you want. You just can’t do that sort of thing when writing for a live performance. The possibilities are limitless, especially if you have a big budget to work with! To me, this is the big difference between writing for films and writing for the concert stage.
Harrington – Absolutely none. Contemporary concert music; Ravel, Lutoslawski and Ligeti, et al, have had an impact on film music that is when when film composers aren’t ripping them off completely.
Hernandez – It has made the contemporary concert music composer aware that competition exists. Not the silly kind of faux competition that is pop vs. classical mind you, but rather the perceived classical (ie “film music”) vs. concert music classical. Too often I see composers who are annoyed by a comparison’s of their music to film music. But, what do they expect? The public watches movies more often than they do attend concerts, so their frame of reference is limited. I say, take advantage of this! There needn’t be a rift between the two genres, but rather a partnership. With more sturdy, concert music composers crossing over to film these days, we can expect to see a semi-equalization of the two genres and a strengthening of concert music in general.
Holt – Film music hasn’t really had an impact on my music, at least consciously. I guess I can’t help but be influenced on some level by what I hear and I have heard a lot of film music. I’d like to think that my music has a certain level of drama but I don’t think that film music has made me think of that. On classical music in general I think that film music has impacted contemporary composers in the sense that most of them don’t want their music to sound like film music.
McKinley – Steven Gutheinz is a freakin’ God… Seriously, however, I think that both film music and concert music have served to influence each other. So the flow may be both ways. I have heard lots of scores that sound like concert suites and many concert works that sound like film scores. Go figure!
Rohe – I’m not sure, actually. In one sense, film music gives listeners something to feel artsy about liking without having to go through the trouble to listen to concert music (which they wouldn’t like anyway.) On the other hand, most film music isn’t even sonically related to the concert tradition anymore, so even in that world we see the evidence of the demise of the genre.
Lanman – I really only feel safe in speaking about composers of my own generation here. I think that at one time, film composers were taking from concert composers and not the other way around. Today, I think it works both ways. Sure, some composers are not influenced at all by film music, but I think they are a small percentage. The first orchestral music that I was exposed to was film music, and it stayed that way for a long time. I think this is the case for a lot of people my age and younger.

GOM: Is it the responsibility of the contemporary composer to get people back into the concert halls? Is it the composers responsibility to build a new audience for concert music?

Composers: Gutheinz – It is the composer’s responsibility to write good music. period. If they do this successfully, people will listen. One other thing: I don’t think the concert hall is the only venue for classical music. That is thinking like the 19th century!!
Harrington – The responsibility of the contemporary composer is to follow his or her heart.
Hernandez – It is the responsibility of the music director, board members and publicists of concert music organizations to get the audience in the concert hall. Look, this isn’t the 19th century here. Today, our audience is bombarded with so much information delivered in so many varying formats, that only creative and innovating marketing/advertising can get someone to even think about attending a concert. Do these old dogs on these boards seriously think that JQ public says “Hey, Tchaik 4 is being played this Saturday kids, lets go!” No. At the same time, JQ public isn’t gonna say “Hey, Rafael Hernandez’s latest opera ‘The Rocco Siffredi Files’ is being premiered! Hop in the (your SUV of choice)!” More exposure, regardless of repertoire, is needed. There are very few pieces that will attract audiences without help (The Nutcracker, The Messiah, maybe Beethoven 9, etc.).
Holt – I think that in the short-term composers and to a certain extent conductors are responsible for bringing the audience back to the concert hall. But in the long term (beginning now), and I’m sure this is a little idealistic, I think that music and arts education needs to begin earlier in children’s lives and last longer through their schooling. I think that educators have a responsibility to balance out a students learning. Not that every one should be a performer or composer, just that there should be an awareness that there are in fact composers alive writing concert music and that popular music is great but just a part of a persons musical life. I didn’t know that there were composers still writing concert music until after I began college.
McKinley – No. People must be open and no matter what you can not make them like or understand your music. You can be supportive and encouraging and that is it. I have given up on most of my friends. I think if you write music that is honest then it will show.
Rohe – Yes and yes. But it’s much too late for either.
Lanman – I think yes for both questions. I think it is important that composers of today not have the elitist attitude of last century that helped build the wall between the composer and the audience. But at the same time, composers of today shouldn’t feel that they have to compromise their style in order to please a mass audience. It’s a fine line to walk.

GOM: What impact do you think the Internet is having on classical music and music in general?

Composers: Gutheinz – The Internet is a great tool, but I think it is over-hyped. For us unknown artists, it is a terrific way to distribute and promote our work.
Harrington – It will help save it by creating micro-communities of listeners with extremely varied tastes.
Hernandez – Distribution and dissemination of concert music, mainly. Also, hobbyist composers now have a voice and a means to spread their own message through sites like MP3.com and Ampcast. This makes our job even harder. Competition, competition, competition! Is the future of concert music held in the palm of the Internet? Uh, no. Hell no.
Holt – I don’t know. It certainly makes it more available and cheaper, but I’m not sure personally what kind of impact it is making on the public at large. I know that more and more people are taking advantage of the internet as a music resource but my guess is that most of them are finding the music that they want to find and that nobody’s audience is getting larger just more devoted to what they really like.
McKinley – Helping to spread music that would otherwise be unknown — and to help composers to network and communicate with each other.
Rohe – It’s re-empowering the independent artist, at least in terms of exposure (certainly not in terms of financial stability – there, the internet has had no effect whatsoever.) Of course, my answer refers strictly to non-concert music. Concert music is still dead, despite the Internet.
Lanman – The Internet is putting the power to choose back into the hands of the people. I think that as a result, more people are being exposed to many different genres they wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to.

GOM: What do you think the role of the composer will be in the 21st century?

Composers: Gutheinz – No different than the role of the composer in the 20th or 19th or 18th centuries. The role of the composer is to write good music, it doesn’t matter under what conditions he or she composes! Do people really care who commissioned the Messiah? Or who it was that was paying Haydn to write his music? Or Mozart? Or that many composers today teach for a living? In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. I do think we will see more composers writing functional music for a living (like Bach and Haydn did), but that does NOT make it less valuable. It is all up to the composer to write good music, no one else. I don’t care if it is ‘pop,’ ‘jazz,’ ‘country,’ ‘classical,’ whatever.. if it is good, it is good. If the history of music has shown us anything at all, it is that good music does always find an audience and the best of it will transcend time and period.
Harrington – To write great music.
Hernandez – The role will be that of a musical two face – part entertainer, part artist. That is the hard truth. We want the latter, but must often survive with the former.
Holt – Hopefully the composer will be more inclusive and cosmopolitan rather than so exclusive, upset, and closed off from the audience and public. We aren’t going to make any friends by insulting the people we most need which are often those with little or no musical training.
McKinley – To make really good fries and learn how to ask a customer if he/she wants to super size it at the same time. Seriously: To be good humans. To be good fathers and mothers and neighbors and friends. To enjoy life and to spread that joy to anyone willing to listen without any pretence or prejudice.
Rohe – The concert composer will play the same role in the 21st Century that he/she played for the bulk of the 20th – teacher/academic.
Lanman – I think we’ll start to see roles of all kinds. Teacher/academic, freelance, artisan (composing for TV/film/computer games/etc). These roles exist now, but I think will continue to grow. I think composing functional music for film/TV/computer games etc will continue to grow into this century, and we’ll see more and more composers taking on this role.

GOM: Do you feel that most people are denied access to classical music because of the dominance of popular music? If so, what is your opinion on the zero to little knowledge that people have of classical music in today’s society?

Composers: Gutheinz – Not at all. If anything, access to classical music has improved with time, not deteriorated. It is very easy to go to a concert! It is VERY easy to pick up a classical CD and listen. There are thousands of them! It wasn’t this easy 200 years ago. We live in a time when the music of the world is literally within the reach of just about everyone. That is amazing when you think about it! (pt. 2 of question) – Education. I think we should make REAL elementary music education available to all children in public school, 5 days a week.
Harrington – The old clichés of classical music will have to be destroyed by classical musicians themselves if it is to thrive. We cannot combat the masses and their fashions nor can we cowtow to their fickle tastes.
Hernandez – Somewhat yes, but we can’t supply a quasi-mmmBOP feeding tube like they are used to getting. We can only put up a sign that says “HEY MOTHERFUCKERS WE ARE HERE! CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO TRY SOMETHING NEW!” Ok, maybe not ‘motherfuckers,’ but one gets the point. As for the lack of knowledge of classical music, that is fantastic! Who gives a flying fuck about hexachordal combinatorialty and augmented sixths?! I certainly don’t and don’t expect my audience to either. All I want is for my audience to enjoy the experience that is concert music.
Holt – See Questions #4,6.
McKinley – Music is perhaps the most abstract art form. People are not encouraged from early on to have the patience and the free abstract thinking that is involved to appreciate well developed music. Our world (at least Western society) is weaned on quick digestible chunks that are immediately obvious at the surface. Thus most pop music caters to the 3 minute attention span and has very little to offer. Its not most peoples fault–they just are not educated nor encouraged to appreciate art and to have the kind of free will to explore. Hence there is little we all can do except to be the best we can and enjoy our lives… and hope that someday this kind of thought and appreciation is somehow fostered in the public.
Rohe – People aren’t denied access to classical music. They CHOOSE to avoid it because the people who make it are usually both dogmatic about it and boring. Popular music has nothing to do with it. (pt. 2 of question) – Serious music listeners find music that’s interesting to them. The fact that almost none of them (or anyone else) are seeking out this music speaks to the culture of THAT MUSIC, not to the culture of listeners. People avoid classical music because the people that extol its virtues are often alienating, insular, arrogant, and contemptuous. There’s nothing inviting at all about that world.
Lanman – I don’t think they are denied access – especially with the Internet. What I do think is that they are denied education.

GOM: A lot of composers have dreams of changing the world with their music when they first start out. As a young composer, did you feel this way? If so, have your feelings or goals changed in any way? If so, why?

Composers: Gutheinz – Of course I felt that way! Yes, my goals have changed. I’m much more concerned with my own personal expression than I am with ‘changing the world’ with my music. Life is way too short for that!
Harrington – I still do. The one change I have experienced is an increased interest and devotion to chamber music.
Hernandez – Yea, I wanna change the world, the prehistoric classical world. I can’t stand the system of propriety and artifact-idol worship that occurs in classical music! Yes, it does mirror real world politics. Yes, it does resemble any other industry. But, I want change! I want for everyone to have the opportunity to hear NEW music (as well as old) and then evaluate. If it be through Disney and Fantasia, cool. If it be through Corigliano and his Red Violin, fantastic. Hell, I will settle for a lover of Michael Nyman who stumbles upon Aaron Jay Kernis because of something they read in the liner-notes of a CD. Then, if they hate what they hear, lets throw a party! They have at least given it a chance. Not everyone likes Kenny G, you know. However, he was given a chance. New music has not been given a chance. Why? Look at Question #4.
Holt – I feel like I am a young composer and I do feel like I can make a difference.
McKinley – I didn’t want to change the world. Just my own world. In this respect, my music has certainly done this. My idea of being a “famous” composer died out long ago. Now I just want to enjoy life and have fun. If I give people some pleasure and make them stop and think with my music then that is just icing on the cake.
Rohe – When I was young, I just wanted to write good music. Now, I want to write good music that people care to hear. My goals broadened because I realized that if a tree falls in a forest and there’s no one there to hear it, it doesn’t make a sound.
Lanman – I think I did feel that way somewhat. Right now, I just want to write music that I’m happy with. I really have no aspirations to be the next Stravinsky or Schoenberg. I just want to continue to try to develop a personal style – that’s hard enough to do these days!

GOM: In your opinion, is there anyone doing anything interesting or even revolutionary in concert music today?

Composers: Gutheinz – Does music have to be revolutionary to be good? Does that make it good? I don’t think so. I think Rachmaninov had a distinct voice, yet he wasn’t an ultra-modernist. So what! The music world today is eclectic, confusing, and chaotic. My tastes have become equally eclectic (and so is my music!), but out of everything that is going on, there are two composers I relate to on a very personal level: John Williams and Michael Torke. John Williams is an obvious choice for most film composers, and I’m no exception. Torke has a distinct and strong voice that speaks volumes to me. Master of orchestration, motivic development, and form: his music is very moving.
Harrington – Not in America. In Europe we have some real experimentation going on which most American composers sadly have little knowledge of. Sciarrino, Grisey, Gaussin, Lachenman et al are creating a new coloristic and dramatic expressive type of music. American composers in general have become isolated, pedantic and dull in their approach to composition.
Hernandez – The hobbyist composer interests me. I love the way that he or she composes, stumbling on old established rules while staying the course towards their vision of concert music. What is produced is very, very interesting. I must confess, however, that I don’t care much about this right now.
Holt – No comment.
McKinley – No, not really. I think that originality is really overrated.
Rohe – Interesting – some of the minimal and post-minimal crowd. Reich’s music is still interesting, as is much of the work associated with the Bang on a Can people. I think what Ferneyhough and some of the other “New Complexity” folks are doing is interesting in the abstract. Revolutionary – none whatsoever. Everything revolutionary is being done in other genres, where the audiences are actually interested in progress.
Lanman – I think that there are people trying out some new things in Europe right now, but revolutionary? I don’t think there are any Schoenbergs or Stravinskys writing music right now. If there are, I don’t know about em.

GOM: If you had to choose 5 pieces of music to listen to for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Composers: Gutheinz – I wouldn’t want to live if I could only listen to 5 pieces the rest of my life! Brahms: Intermezzo op. 118, no. 2 Brahms: Piano Trio in B (revised version) Beethoven: 3rd Symphony Barber: Violin Concerto Copland: Appalachian Spring That is what I would pick today. If you asked me tomorrow, it might be different! My list is long.
Harrington – Beethoven: Symphony 9 Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child Part 2 James Brown: Live at the Apollo Vol II Lutoslawski Symphony 3 Debussy: Jeux
Hernandez – Michael Jackson – PYT Samuel Barber – Piano Sonata Maurice Ravel – Trois Poems de Stephane Mallarme Bonnie Rait – I can’t make you love me King Crimson – Frame by Frame
Holt – (in no order) Gorecki – 3rd symphony Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms Reich – Piano Phase Briggs – Gathering Together Rzewski – People United
McKinley – Man… that is a really tough question. I don’t know… I do know that I would take just about anything from Bach at the top of my list and then work from there.
Rohe – Tough one…let’s see..can I pick whole records?: Stravinsky – Le Sacre Steely Dan – Aja Meshell Ndegeocello – Plantation Lullabies Led Zepellin – 4 Steve Reich – Different Trains
Lanman – Damn, why did I ask this question? This list will change tomorrow probably. 1) Stravinsky – Rite of Spring 2) JS Bach – Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro BWV 998 3) Vivaldi – The Four Seasons 4) Metallica – Master of Puppets 5) NWA – Straight Outta Compton

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