Charles Ives was one of the pioneers of modern classical music, as well as one of the first major American composers of his time. Ives combined American popular music with church songs with an inventive and experimental approach to music. He was one of the first composers to start using experimental techniques such as polyrhythm, tone clusters and bitonality. This is why he was such a major influence on composers after him, and on composers today.
Charles Ives 1874 - 1954
I came across his name while studying film music, and found many film composers (Bernard Herrmann in particular) to be highly influenced by his work. Some of his most interesting works include his pieces written for typical American bands - some instances even having them playing two different pieces at the same time to achieve the bitonal effect that made him so famous. When looking at his earlier works, I came across his first Symphony, which rather than proving how he may have influenced other composers, actually shows how other composers had influenced him. The symphony was written between 1898 and 1902, and is composed in a late Romantic style with many influences from the great European composers before him such as Tchaikovsky and Schubert.
The melody - alternating mostly between wind and strings - is a series of unexpected twists and turns. As well as this, the tonality of the piece is constantly shifting between major and minor, giving the piece a very uncertain feeling. This feeling of suspense is cleverly resolved in the second subject as the strings journey to the major, and are accompanied by the confident sounds of trumpets and horns. Personally, I can hear influences of European waltzes in the second subject as the harmonic progressions seem to mimic the dance-like nature of the songs written before him.
As well as the first movement of his first symphony, I also came across one of his most famous pieces: 'The Unanswered Question', which is paired with another of his works: 'Central Park in the Dark'. Similarly to a lot of his works, the two were practically ignored until after his death (despite being composed in 1940) and are now appreciated today as two major works of modern classical music. The original title of the pieces was in fact: 'The Unanswered Perennial Question'. Ives himself described the work as a 'cosmic landscape' in which the strings represent silence, the trumpet then asks the 'question of existence' whilst the woodwind seeks the 'invisible answer'. The end of the piece returns to only the strings, indicating that the wind have given up, and - left with 'silence' - the question goes forever unanswered.
Erich Korngold was a post-romantic film and music composer. Like many unappreciated geniuses, in his time Korngold's compositional style was not particularly well-recieved. However, today he is known by many musicians as 'the last prodigy' - after Mozart of course! (Korngold's father even gave him the middle name Wolfgang to pay tribute to the man himself). Along with Max Steiner, Korngold is now considered to be one of the pioneers of film music, as his time was between the first silent movies, and the introduction of the 'talkies'.
Before entering the film business, Korngold worked in the world of opera and operetta, which meant that when it came to film music, he had a particularly good skill for creating dramatic musical atmospheres, as well as his knack for scoring historical subjects and his sensitivity to dialogue. His film music fit into the post-romantic style of the Hollywood 'golden age' and was influenced heavily by Wagner, who structured his works thematically with leitmotifs. This soon became the typical style of all film music, and even now there are films that are instantly recognisable by their scores - for example, Tara's theme in Steiner's score for 'Gone With the Wind' (1939) that is heard in the film's overture. However, Korngold went further than the other composers around him, and made his music original with his grand scores for huge orchestras, and his incredible attention to detail. Despite the fact his most famous work is the film score for 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938), my favourite of his works is the Piano Quintet below.
The piece carries a recurring theme of rising sequences that alternate between the violins and the piano, while being accompanied by the deep and warm tones of the lower strings. The piece is a wonderful example of the romantic style that makes Korngold the iconic figure he is today. A link of the video is posted below:
This year I am preparing to take my singing diploma. I've been singing since I was about 11, and every Royal College of Music syllabus seems to have had the same repertoire on it for about twenty years, and therefore is quite dated. Of course you can opt for the Musical Drama exam in which you can sing songs from musicals, but I chose classical. After taking my grade 8, I decided I wanted a break from exams so that I could sing something that I really enjoyed - rather than just to pass an exam and to get a certificate! The first thing I looked at was a book of songs by English composer and poet, Ivor Gurney. The collection of songs was immediately appealing to me, as I'd never come across his music before, and found the harmonies in particular to be truly beautiful.
Ivor Gurney 1890 - 1937
Gurney showed early musical ability as a chorister for Gloucester Cathedral, and met composer Herbert Howells - soon to become a life-long friend. Gurney began composing at the age of only 14, and received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music. There, he studied with Charles Stanford, also a teacher of other well-known composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland and Frank Bridge. Unfortunately, Gurney suffered a lot throughout his lifetime. As a teenager, he suffered from bipolar disorder, and found it hard to concentrate on his musical studies. However, his career was interrupted by the outbreak of WWI when he enlisted as a soldier. After being victim to several gas attacks he suffered from shell shock. His mental health was never the same again, as he spent the last fifteen years of his life in mental institutions and hospitals.
Throughout his life, Gurney wrote hundreds of poems and songs, and even some instrumental music. His most well-known compositions are his Five Elizabethan Songs, (or as he called them, 'The Elizas'). Many critics notice the influences of Schubert and Schumann in his work, however note that his music didn't fit in with the popular genre of folk music at the time, and rather had a powerful and intense use of harmony and melody. This is true of one of his songs from The Five Elizabethan Songs: 'Sleep'. The text talks about Gurney's longing to live inside his dreams, as for him, reality was sometimes too much to bare, this is seen particularly in the phrase, 'lock me in delight a while'. The text reads:
Come, sleep, and with thy sweet decieving lock me in delight a while;
Let some pleasing dream beguile all my fancies; that from thence
I may feel an influence all my powers of care bereaving!
Though but a shadow, but a sliding, let me know some little joy!
We that suffer long annoy are contented with a thought through an idle fancy wrought:
O let my joys have some abiding, o let my joys have some abiding.
The piece starts with the back and forth, longing motions of quavers on the piano, almost as if mimicking the motions of the singers eyes fluttering in and out of sleep. The minor key creates beautiful moments of light and joy when Gurney moves to the major. The simplicity of the piano accompaniment is constant throughout, and never takes away from the text or the singer, only enhancing it with Gurney's typical use of imaginative and yearning harmonies. The piece climaxes on the words, 'O let my joys have some abiding', even repeating the phrase once more before the end of the piece to emphasise the desperation of the singer. The very end of the piece really is the icing on top of the cake, as the piano pauses on a major dominant pedal, resolving onto a major chord - as if to imply that the singer has happily fallen asleep.
Ivor Gurney's 'Sleep' from The Five Elizabethan Songs, performed by Ian Bostridge
Having not posted for a while because of A-level revision and exams, I wanted to post about something that is close to my heart. From my other posts, you'll know that I am a keen composer, and want to pursue this as a career. However, it suddenly occurred to me that there is a significant male domination of the occupation, and I wanted to find out why. At first I asked my parents, friends and teachers if they knew of any female composers, and the only name I was given was Judith Weir, a British composer born in 1954. The only piece of hers that I know is 'Illuminare Jerusalem', something which is not well-known, and not always well-received.
Of course there is the obvious reason for the lack of female composers; in the past women were discouraged and even prohibited from having careers, particularly in the arts - which were considered lowly professions and unsuitable for ladies. Examples of this include Clara Schumann and Gustav Mahler's wife: Alma Mahler, who was made to give up composition by her husband when they were married. However, if the discouragement of women participating in the arts is the reason as to why there are so few known female composers, then why does history carry a long list of successful and famous female artists and actresses such as Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor?
(From left to right: Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Frida Kahlo)
On Wikipedia, there are lists of composers split up by categories such as experimental, classical, jazz etc. One list is titled: contemporary female composers, on which there are eighteen names. There is no list for contemporary male composers, as there are too many to mention. I still find that my question has not been answered, and I have absolutely no knowledge of any female composers from the past or present.
So I end my post with the question: Is this good news for me as it shows there to be a gap in the market for something I am trying to do, or is something telling me that it is a lost cause? Any information about female composers would be welcome.
As a composer, I have often wondered how other composers begin writing a piece of music. As well as that, I have wondered - what is the right way to start writing a piece of music? Well, I suppose there is no right way and no wrong way, it is all down to the individual.
Similarly to writers, composers definitely understand the meaning of the phrase 'writer's block'. I suffer from this all the time. I even find that I can go for two or three months without picking up my manuscript pad or jotting my ideas into my computer. If you look through the 'Composing for Dummies' book you'll find hundreds of handy tips that will get you 'composing' in no time - (don't buy it!) Similarly, if you type 'how to compose a piece' into Google, the first site comes up with 'Tip no.1, it is crucial that your piece has an introduction, a middle section and a conclusion'. Every musician knows that this is completely misleading, as classical music has a number of different structures and forms.
When I begin to write a piece of music, it's usually because I've been sitting watching tv and heard something that I like in a film or tv score, or even because I've whistled the same phrase for days, and I can't get it out of my head - almost as if it's a sign to write it down. I used to always start a piece with a single note held for about eight bars. Now, not all of my pieces end up with this introduction, but I find it useful to pick a note, listen to it being held, and wait for something to come to mind. Sometimes I begin to hum a harmony, sometimes I get a rhythm going with my feet - and sometimes all I can do is stare at the music with no inspiration at all.
However, since I started composing choral music, I found that the most useful tool when composing is having a text. Some of the standard texts like 'ave maria', 'sanctus', 'ave verum corpus' and 'magnificat and nunc dimittis' are the ones I'm talking about. The reason they are so helpful is because it gives you half the music already, this is because of the emphasis that we put on words. For instance, the phrase 'ave maria, gratia plena' would be said: (a-ve ma-RI-a, GRA-ti-a PLE-na). This natural emphasis makes it easier to come up with a melody or a rhythm. The most basic melodic example would be:
Here, the accented syllables are represented by a change of note. As well as thinking up music in my head, I take a lot of inspiration from other composers and pieces that I like - not always being classical. However, I find that particular genres are useful when searching for inspiration in a particular aspect of the music. For example, I find film music to be the best thing to listen to for subtlety and harmony, for accurate settings of texts, I find the most useful music to be requiems or Magnificats and Nunc Dimittis' (although I strongly believe that you can pretty much find everything you need by listening to Bach!).
The final way in which I find inspiration is by playing the piano or even the guitar. I find sitting down at the piano and playing endless chord progressions relaxing anyway, (maybe I'm one of few) but it leads you to places that you may not have thought of in your head. I would also say that other instruments would be helpful, however the piano and guitar are particularly good because they give you thick harmonies with multiple notes at a time, as well as an extremely wide range. Of course there are compositional processes for certain genres of classical music because they have to include the elements of the genre (e.g. minimalism must include repetition, addition, subtraction, cell displacement etc) but when starting off something of your own choice and style, finding the thing that gives you inspiration is all important.
I leave you with a variety of views about the subject from the pros:
'It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous notes under the table' Johanne Brahms
'Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house. Slowly you see more details of the house - the colour of the slates and bricks, the shape of the windows. The notes are the bricks and the mortar of the house' Benjamin Britten
'If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all' John Cage
'Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise' George Gershwin
'Every great inspiration is but an experiment' Charles Ives
'A symphony must be like the world, it must contain everything' Gustav Mahler
'Ever since I began to compose, I have remained true to my starting principle: not to write a page because no matter what public, or what pretty girl wanted it to be thus or thus; but to write solely as I myself thought best, and as it gave me pleasure' Felix Medelssohn
For most of his musical career, Karl Jenkins has been known as a jazz musician, playing (unusually) the oboe in a jazz quintet. As a classical composer, his breakthrough came with 'Adiemus'. I chose to write about Jenkins because of his latest work: 'The Peacemakers', which is dedicated to the great peacemakers of the world such as Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. However, I still believe that 'The Armed Man' is his best work by far.
With it's full title of 'The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace' the choral work is dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis. A recent survey has shown that Jenkins' 'The Armed Man' is the most performed work by a living composer in the world today. I believe this to be because as well as being a work of genuine beauty and interest, the work is very accessible to musicians of all levels as the choral parts are not too challenging, and neither are the orchestral parts that accompany them.
Most of the works included in the mass are set to typical Latin texts such as the 'Sanctus' and the 'Benedictus'. However, there are some sections in which the text is not typically religious, but instead relates more to the theme of war that is so prominent in the mass. One work in which this is particularly effective is the soprano solo, 'Now The Guns Have Stopped'. The text reads:
Silent, so silent now, now the guns have stopped. I have survived all, I who knew I would not.
But now you are not here. I shall go home alone; and must try to live life as before
And hide my grief. For you, my dearest friend, who should be with me now, not cold too soon,
And in your grave, alone.
This piece comes after the complete madness of the movement, 'Torches'. In contrast to the rest of the mass, the piece starts with slow and wistful held notes from the upper strings. In the introduction, the harmonies and rising suspensions of the strings create a chilling atmosphere that represents that of a battle. Interestingly, the strings come to a halt at 1.16 to reflect the words, 'silent, so silent now'. Jenkins even reflects the surprise in the speaker's voice on the words 'stopped' and 'not' by using unexpected chord changes. I believe this piece to be undeniably beautiful, as its haunting and suspenseful harmonies really reflect the true loss and grief portrayed already in the text.
This post may seem extremely cynical compared to my others, however after looking at the classical music charts, listening to 'Classic FM' and hearing 'classical music' played in the waiting room of my GP, I felt it was time to say something about what has become of society's perception of the classical music genre.
At my age, it is rare to find a peer that is at all interested in classical music (unless of course you're at an Eton Choral course or play in an orhcestra). Why is this? What has become of classical music in today's society? It seems to me that classical music is only truly appreciated by an exclusive section of society. Perhaps it is this exclusivity and snobbery that puts others off having a listen to it in the first place. Of course it is much too harsh to say that classical music is unpopular, for instance there are far more people listening to Beethoven than there were when he was alive, however when you compare it to the popularity of other popular genres, it is fighting a losing battle.
If you look at the top ten pieces in (what are wrongly called) 'The Classical Music Charts', you won't find any great pioneers such as Bach, Chopin or Stravinsky. Instead, the list consists of Katherine Jenkins, Sarah Brightman and even Celine Dion. (Yes, Celine Dion).
Here are reasons that I believe disable classical music from being spread properly throughout society, particularly to the younger generations:
Saturation - Pop, drum and bass, grime and club music seems to be pumped out of every single speaker that exists in public areas, whether they be in shopping mall changing rooms or the toilets in Starbucks.
Gullibility - People my age seem to have the idea that being 'cool' is all important, and that classical music is 'uncool' - whatever that means...
Celebrity Obsession - The new reason as to why music sells seems to be because it is 'sung' (auto-tuned) by a model, reality tv show judge, drug addict or in Chris Brown's case: a wife-beater.
Attention Span - Obviously starting off with something as endless as the Bach Motets would bore anyone to shreds - but it seems that to keep people interested in what they're listening to, there has to be a combination of a beat, some 'oohs' and 'ahs', a monotonous verse and a chorus built of the same phrase repeated over and over again.
Modern Classical Music - Like all of the arts, modern classical music seems to be constantly trying to invent something new, something interesting. Because of this constant need for creating something different, recent music (Ives and Cage as examples) seems to be more complicated and experimental, and less accessible to the younger audience.
But whose fault is it that classical music is not (in my opinion) as popular as it should be? Is it the fact that composers simply don't make their music accessible enough to both a musically educated and uneducated audience, or is it the lack of willingness from other listeners?
These are some of the reasons I love contemporary composers such as Eric Whitacre and Karl Jenkins. Eric Whitacre has an enormous fan base of all ages (particularly younger people) because his music is much more accessible, and Karl Jenkins provides education for less educated musicians by writing pieces such as 'The Armed Man' and 'The Peacemakers' with appealing orchestrations and relatively easy parts.
As a composer, I hope to write music that is more accessible to a wider audience - but will always wonder if classical music is doomed to be as 'uncool' as everyone says it is.
