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In comments below, Varese's narrow expressive range has been cited as a reason to consider him a minor composer. The issue of expressive range has been very interesting to me, ever since I heard George Crumb address it many years ago. Crumb was (is) often accused of having a narrow expressive range. He said that he felt that different composers had different ranges. He cited Beethoven as someone who had an enormous expressive range. Then, surprisingly to me, he cited Stravinsky as someone who had a very narrow range, claiming that Stravinsky was forced to radically change styles in order to give the illusion of expressive range in his music.
He didn't seem to feel that Stravinsky was any less of a composer for the narrowness of said range, rather that he had found a creative way to keep composing.
What's your take on this perspective? It's given me a lot to think about over the years.
posted by Lawrence Dillon
1:47 PM
