Composers Forum is a daily web log that allows invited contemporary composers to share their thoughts and ideas on any topic that interests them--from the ethereal, like how new music gets created, music history, theory, performance, other composers, alive or dead, to the mundane, like getting works played and recorded and the joys of teaching. If you're a professional composer and would like to participate, send us an e-mail.
Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019
All of the composers on the list have written one or more substantial works for orchestra (or rather, composers who have *not* written for orchestra do not appear on the list).
Virtually no composer on the top-twenty list is liked by more than half of the critics surveyed. [CORRECTION: I misunderstood the statistics, and Ian Moss and the ever-popular "Anonymous" have set me straight (so to speak) in the Comments below.]
None of the composers on the list make much use of electronics in their work, except for a couple who amplify acoustic sounds.
No composer is under the age of 40; are any of them even under 50??
None of the composers on the list are Hispanic, African-American, or South Asian. However, some of the critics surveyed believe that William Bolcom is African-American.
Perhaps they should re-title the list “Contemporary Composer: Overall Mediocrity.”
Do these results make you as sick to your stomach as they make me? Fortunately, I know of a few critics who are not as ill-educated and closed-eared as the general pool. (Incidentally, those few tend to visit art exhibitions in galleries instead of museums.)
posted by Corey Dargel
3:27 PM
