Archives for May 2017

I’ve always felt open to a wide range of influences in my music.  That’s not the right approach for everyone – some composers must focus on one or two strong influences – but it suits my character and the kind of music I want to create. Been working on a new piece, though, that has an influence I never would have anticipated.  The music takes the form of many short movements – each under two … [Read more...]

A friend of mine in grad school, a cellist, was close to graduation when his teacher suddenly died.  “What am I going to do?” he asked me. “There is nobody to help me get started in my career!” I remember being shocked at his selfishness, seeing someone else’s death only as an impediment to his own success.  I mentally chided him for ignoring the man who had died, and his family. Two years … [Read more...]

I was surprised to identify, in the placid strings that conclude the extraordinary film A Quiet Passion, a bit of decomposed Ives:  the action dissolves into The Unanswered Question, stripped of trumpet and winds. What is left of The Unanswered Question when the question and increasingly agitated answers are removed?  “The Silence of the Druids—who Know, See and Hear Nothing,” in Ives’ words, … [Read more...]