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.


Regular Contributors


Adrienne Albert
Beth Anderson
Larry Bell
Galen H. Brown
Cary Boyce
Roger Bourland
Corey Dargel
Lawrence Dillon
Daniel Gilliam
Peter Gordon
Rodney Lister
Ian Moss
Tom Myron
Frank J. Oteri
Carlos R. Rivera
David Salvage
Stefano Savi Scarponi
Alex Shapiro
Naomi Stephan
David Toub
Judith Lang Zaimont

Composer Blogs@ Sequenza21.com

Lawrence Dillon
Elodie Lauten
Anthony Cornicello
Everette Minchew
Tom Myron

Alan Theisen
Corey Dargel



Latest Posts


The Composer Next Door: April 15th - Bielawa, Moon...
Rob Deemer

James MacMillan Interview
Cary Boyce

Kyiv-Lavra Perchersk Monastery
Cary Boyce

Female Composer Commissions in the Chronicle of Hi...
Rob Deemer

A More Perfect Union
Galen H. Brown

'In C' Follow-Up
jodru

Text and Con-Text
Cary Boyce

Will choral music always be tonal?
Roger Bourland

Two Questions
jodru

New Music Clarification
Cary Boyce


Beepsnort Lisa Hirsch


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


Archives
01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005 01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005 02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005 02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005 02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005 03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005 04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005 04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005 04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005 04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005 05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005 05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005 06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005 10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005 10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005 11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005 11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006 04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006 07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006 08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006 10/29/2006 - 11/05/2006 12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007 04/08/2007 - 04/15/2007

Powered by Blogger

Thursday, April 06, 2006
You Can't Take it With You - So Where Does it Go?

Our new ex-neighbor, an old painter of 80 something years, is now in a nursing home. Her apartment is being emptied; the work of her life is being temporarily stored in the basement of our shared Brooklyn Heights 19th century mansion. This is more than expected. We expected to see hundreds of paintings, drawings, prints tossed dis-organized and pitifully on the street in ready to pick up string-tied masses. We expected to see a brief flurry of interest as our neighbors 'discovered' that the old lady had been an interesting, but repetitious painter of Pierrots, carnival scenes, nudes, and quasi-surrealist assemblages of spooky characters. We expected a brief outcry finding all these hundreds of works on the street and then we expected silence.

As somebody who himself has tossed years of paintings into the garbage because I had to leave town (after I left the Juilliard Masters program I was, for a period, an abstract painter) it tears at the soul to see art dispensed as garbage.

When I heard the American Music Center was going to abandon its role as a musical archivist it became clear to me that American composers would now also, time and again, find their life's work on the street. When our musical culture has absolutely no way of filtering through the tens of thousands of compositional works created each year, how can we be sure that the absolutely astounding works of music that SOMEBODY is writing are preserved and enjoyed by the future.

On the one hand, we have digital archiving solutions, like Archive.org, that are great for recordings, but I'm not sure about scores. There are score archives, such as Werner Icking's score archive, but there is no guarantee that these will be maintained. I believe we need some organization to commit to creating a giant and presumably everlasting digital archive of sheet music. Possibly, Archive.org is doing this already, but the issue remains, how can we be sure, that the great works of our 21st century are maintained.

I'm sure there are those that will say, if the work has failed to garner sufficient resources to be preserved, then so be it. But that to me seems defeatist if not downright delusional, believing that our musical systems equitably judge quality is a mind-boggling assertion.

Mrs. Dunning worked hard her whole life on art that some might think is beautiful. I'm sure that in 6 months, the landlord will say, 'Well, we couldn't find anybody to take it - put it out on the street.' Will your neighbors find your music, or maybe an old computer filled with your life's work on the street someday? Waiting to be digested into meaninglessness? Does it matter? Why does it matter?



Search WWWSearch www.sequenza21.com