Newent Orchestral Society
Celebrating 70 years of music making, 1940-2010

Bill's Musical Notes, April, 2010    

Composers of Today

Conductor, George, has several put downs that he uses when things aren't going too well and we are playing badly. One is to describe our attempts as the “Les Dawson school of music”, another is the classic, “Right notes, wrong order”, and a third is, “that either sounds like you are still tuning up, or it's a 21st century piece.” Fair enough, point taken, but I want to scoop up that last quote, especially as it was once followed by, “whoever, the composers of today are...” It set me thinking, who are they? There are, of course, hundreds of would be composers, hundreds of unknowns trying to succeed, perhaps hundreds, I don't know, making a living from composing and some who have made an important contribution or who have been acknowledged as having something important to say.

But who are they? And why do they have the reputation for sounding like an orchestra “tuning up”, that is, to be more technical about it, for creating dissonance. The blow struck against traditional harmony and tonal centres at the beginning of the twentieth century, most notably by Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School, has ever since clouded the judgment of musicos who need to hear a good tune, something familiar. I say that musical taste is acquired and can be developed, so although modern music may be unfamiliar, it becomes familiar with time and with listening. With this effort arrives the discovery that it is far from tuneless and far from dissonant. So, in case you are tempted to peek over the horizon into the world of twenty-first century music and to seek an answer to the question about its composers, “Who are they?”, here is a handful of names to consider. They are all composers who were born after the Second World War and are alive and kicking today. The rewards for exploring their music are abundant and here are some random jottings about them.

John Adams (1947 - ). Try his “Short Ride In A Fast Machine” and bigger piece, “Harmonielehre”, thoughtful, exciting contemporary listening, quite easy to get on with.
Thomas Adès (1971- ). Conductor, pianist and composer, I read a really insightful piece by him in the Guardian newspaper about Stravinsky's opera, “The Rakes Progress” (reviewed on the NO website).
John Casken (1949- ). Some years ago I heard his violin concerto, which is aptly described as creating a musical landscape, inspired by his roots around Barnsley, up north.
Peter Michael Hamel (1947- ). He has written well about the significance of music in Through Music to the Self. His music is influenced by Asian philosophies and encounters with the works of C.G. Jung.
Oliver Knussen (1952- ). Was married to the deceased Ann Knussen who produced the award-winning Channel 4 series on 20th century music, “Leaving Home”. I note a piece by Oliver called, “Hums and Songs of Winnie-The-Pooh” which is surely tempting.
James MacMillan (1959- ). Scottish influences are in his music; a first piece that became internationally recognised dealt with witchcraft and his most performed piece is a percussion concerto which was written for fellow Scot, Evelyn Glennie.
Tan Dun (1957- ). Influenced by traditional Chinese culture, has written an “Air Concerto” and a “Water Concerto”, the latter reviewed on the NO website. He is known for the use of non-traditional and organic instruments in his compositions.
Kevin Volans (1949- ). First came across him via the Cronos Quartet who have endlessly and heroically promoted and commissioned new works. Their performance of his “White Man Sleeps” is stunning.
Judith Weir (1954- ). A proms commission of hers was uniquely performed and coordinated from different locations in the UK simultaneously. Her music can be described as modern and TUNEFUL...

By far the youngest in my short list is Thomas Adès (born 1971) which suggests that the development of a significant composer is generally a long process dependent on the building of experience, a development that can go on into a composer's seventies, even eighties. I hear that American composer, Elliott Carter is still composing at the age of 102. Any list of composers, including my own, will also show how few women are represented. That gives huge pause for thought and is a discussion for another day.

Finally, I want to mention Brian Eno (1948- , full exotic name, Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno). Originally not a candidate for my list but who may well become included on any geeky top twenty of 21st century composers. His route to composer has been via modern art to the world of rock then ambient music. Feted by the media today, Eno has been invited to construct huge and hugely successful projects at venues such as the Sydney Opera House and at arts festivals in this country. He is annoyingly articulate and intelligent with much of interest to say on modern composition practice.

Here are three of his thoughts about music of the future. Music will make use of computer technology in the home to create pieces that are different each time they are heard. We have been used to sitting down and listening to a piece in its entirety and are guaranteed by the current formats (CD, MP3, etc.), that a composition will be the same every time we listen to it. That will not necessarily have to be so in the future. Eno asked himself, how do people listen to music at home? They don't usually sit down and listen to a piece from end to end, but catch snatches while doing the washing up, while wandering from room to room, dipping into their listening, sometimes simply wanting the music to create an atmosphere. This is affecting the way music is not only listened to but how it is written and is the basis for ambient music, which is, note well, not the same as musak. Finally, technology will make easily available the linking of sound and vision so that the visual arts and music can become much more closely interlinked and available as a multimedia experience.  For example, there will be holographic light installations, part of a home-entertainment set up, that respond to music and music that is, conversely, controlled by light. Woweee!

Bill Anderton, April, 2010

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Previous "Musical Notes"
Up Bows, Down Bows, January, 2009
Audiences - Are They Important? February, 2009
How to Practise, March, 2009
Newent and a Very Peculiar Musical Mix, April, 2009
Art of the Loudspeaker, May, 2009
Temperament - Are You Bovvered?, June, 2009
Music And Its Empty Spaces, July, 2009
Musical Madness, August, 2009
The Heath Robinson Style of Composing Music, September, 2009
Mood Music, October, 2009
A World Symphony, November, 2009
New Age Music, December, 2009
Words, Pictures - and Music, January, 2010
Roots of Music, February, 2010
Modes of Making Music, March, 2010