Composition Matters

A new consensus seems to be forming around the potential empowerment of musicians through a more active role in decision-making about programming new works. Barbara’s excellent idea from yesterday – instituting an ongoing selection process for new works that charges the players themselves with making decisions well in advance, thereby engaging them in a way that makes them feel proprietary about the pieces in a wonderfully positive way – might be more or less possible with different conductors. However, in some cases, this scenario could have multiple benefits. I am guessing there are cases, as things stand now, in which musicians are grappling with a whole host of frustrations and ‘the new piece’ ends up bearing the brunt of these combined frustrations, because of circumstance. But if their experience with ‘the new piece’ is one that empowers them and serves as an antidote to more general frustrations, there could be incredible energy created by such a system.

I also want to highlight Robert’s comment that, in fact, not all composers take advantage of the opportunity to have “face time” with musicians. Last night I had a lengthy discussion with a fellow composer about this very issue: do composers have this extra-musical “face time” responsibility as well? Is it actually extra-musical or is it part of the composer’s required skill set to be workably articulate or even a charismatic advocate for his/her own work? Doesn’t this expectation handicap certain personality types? I know there are various educational offerings in the field that target The Socially & Politically Unskilled Composer. It has always been my opinion that, although one should never discourage a composer who wants to refine these skills, it is incumbent on those of us who have the personal and verbal skills to be advocates for new music to advocate not just for ourselves but for others who might not have these skills. I’d rather catch a lot of fish and have everyone over for dinner than teach a man to fish. Maybe someone else is a better cook than I am, but if I’m good at catching it, I should catch as much as I can and share.

But at the minimum, composers are well advised to be able to function effectively, if not charismatically, at that crucial first rehearsal. I’ve seen conductors roll their eyes when they remember that the composer is coming to the rehearsal. In the rehearsal process, composers are more or less on their own, with a wide variety of levels of direct access to musicians. There is incredible pressure to form cohesive impressions quickly and articulate them concisely. A good conductor (who arguably does need to have the aforementioned charismatic/communication skills as part of his/her primary skill set) will be able to glean a composer’s relative skill in this area, and complement the process with less or more involvement. My opinion is that it would be unfortunate for the field for us to develop uniform personality requirements/expectations of composers, beyond this basic function. I’d love to hear comments on this issue.