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The first in a series, Freshly Scored: chamber music for the 21st century was presented by the wonderful Chicago Chamber Musicians and guest artists. The program consisted of works by Andrew Norman, Avner Dorman, Mason Bates, and Derek Bermel - composers ranging in age from 28 to 39.

Composing: under the hood

Before each piece, Mr. Corigliano, who taught a number of the composers, prompted each one to speak a little about what it was like to be out of music school, making it as a composer in the big bad world, what informs/inspires their music, or the genesis of a particular piece.

The concert was followed by an all-too-brief reception which, unfortunately, allowed no time to meet the composers (I was lucky to catch a few in the hallways at intermission and congratulate them). The reception was, however, preceded by a question and answer session. It’s rare to have five living composers (including Mr. Corigliano) available for questioning after their pieces have been played, and though a recent caller to Sound Opinions remarked that “talking about music makes about as much sense as reading about food”, they gave some much-needed insight into how composers work.

Dorman mentioned the importance of improvisation, and that he found recording himself useful for later composition. Noting that Chopin was known for improvising and taking time to write pieces down only after many live performances to figure out what he was doing, Dorman wondered aloud if “we might have more music by Chopin if he had a Minidisc.”

Architecture for composers

Bates described the value of a solid structure upon which to build a piece. “You don’t start with a window and then think about the foundation.”

Incidentally, Norman’s piece “Light Screens” was inspired by the geometries and balance of active and void spaces in the stained glass windows of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, but we’re not generally talking about architecture as is pertains directly to buildings, rather the idea of architecture as structure; an organizing system or framework.

During the concert, Corigliano contrasted different ideas of the “architecture” of a piece, noting that while Norman’s work had a solid framework with great textures and events, Dorman managed to build an architecture around emotion and passion in his String Quartet. He knows what he’s talking about - Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1: Of Rage and Remembrance channels the bitter loss of close friends in the music world into a moving piece that is at times lyrical, frenzied, and ultimately very accessible… and a great and convincing example of that most imposing of forms of musical structure - the symphony.

Program and composers

Andrew Norman (b. 1979)
Sync Up (2002)
The Turning (2004)
Light Screens (2002)

Avner Dorman (b. 1975)
String Quartet No. 2 (Mirage) (2004)

Mason Bates (b. 1977)
String Band (2002)

Derek Bermel (b. 1967)
Coming Together (1999)
Tied Shifts (2004)

Soapbox moment

Please allow me to step up onto my soapbox for a bit:

If such music seems to come from an elite and appeal to an elite, it’s because society unwittingly conspires to keep it this way… and because you haven’t heard it. If you did, you’d want to hear more, and this, folks, is the whole point:
More people wanting to hear music brings more music out of the rarefied air of the conservatory stratosphere and into earshot of more people.
Seems simple.

Most of these composers have links to their music (see above).
Young musicians and composers are finding ways to get their music out there (MySpace, YouTube, iTunes, websites, etc.), but it’s still tough. Publishing music is expensive. Hiring great musicians to play this music is expensive.
To have great music, someone must write it, and throughout musical history, composers from Mozart to Monk have had trouble making ends meet, so today’s situation is nothing new.
Sometimes endowments, grants, or patrons step in to help commission composers to write new music, but this is still too rare.

If you’re fortunate enough to afford to go to a concert of “classical” music written by living people, look around and you’ll likely see empty seats (and probably a long list of people and organizations who’ve helped make the concert possible). Next time you shell out $75 for Beck or Bjork (who are great, not knocking them…), you probably won’t see empty seats, or hear that long list of thank-yous. These folks have hired everything from string quartets to choirs to orchestras for their boundary-pushing albums, and you’ve helped them do it by wanting their music.

Do the same for folks whose music you’ve never heard, and help reduce the dependency on governments, corporations, wealthy patrons, and elite establishments for our music. Put your butts in seats, open your ears and your wallets, and help support a culture of great music of all kinds whenever you can.

Despite what one might think, there will never be too much music.
Just too few people that can make a living doing it.

Now, enough writing… go listen.

Audio clips

Avner Dorman
Udacrep Akubrad for duo percussion
Psalm 67
Piano Sonata #2

Mason Bates
Locrian Mode
Digital Loom
Icarian Rhapsody (I)

Derek Bermel
Thracian Echoes
Soul Garden
Two Songs from Nandom

Related posts

Young composers
Young composers II: Great performers, thirsty audiences