KylismsA very nice collection of quotes by Kyle Gann, collected by his students. My favourites are:One of the ways you know you're developing as a composer is when people start performing your pieces better. - this is so true and I take it to mean that if a piece sounds badly played, it's usually your fault as the composer (OK Maybe not always!) I can write a good piece of music in three weeks. A bad one takes me six months. One can prove by analysis that, in reality, Webern's music is highly unified. But art isn't about reality: it's about appearances. - I love that one. Mystery is easily achieved. It's clarity that's difficult. Subtleties tend to get lost in performance. That's why Beethoven was so successful - he didn't put any subtleties in his music. I don't get this one, though: Stravinsky was the master at sustaining a musical idea. Isn't Stravinsky's success based on the fact that he knows when to stop an idea? One day I hope to ask Mr Gann about that one. Posted on 20 March 2008 |
David Bruce - Composer
