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Ok. First of, This is NOT a discussion about the different styles and techniques of composition. I'm not even slightly willing to read anything about dissonance, etc... The point is completely different. It's about making a living as a classical composer, if possible. Until now there were commissions, teaching, etc. But it seems to me that the Internet, piracy, and whatever else has changed that. There seems to be little reason to commission a new work. Apart from a government body eager to 'educate' the citizens through this way, and various bodies, I don't think anyone else is commissioning on an individual bases. Maybe I could be wrong, but it remains that I doubt I can get any decent commission without some government financial aid. A choir director who asked me to work on a 30-40 minute piece for choir and possibly orchestra or not, was willing to give me 1000$. He told me that the financial support was cut off, and so on, and I wasn't expecting much, but 1000$? For 6 months work or so? We are talking about a major piece here. I had to decline, although I do see the potential advertisement. I just couldn't bring myself to live on my savings for six months or so (maybe 4, 3?) and provide SUCH a service for free. Someone else, without kids, maybe would take the opportunity, and I'm betting that someone did. Where is this all heading? Where the chance to really write some wonderful piano music, a piano sonata for example (like our old member QcCowboy did, and his works were excellent)? Why do it if you will only get tiny compensation. With hopes of self publishing? Will that disappear as well? What will become of what we happily call and discuss over here "classical music"?

I do, on a regular basis. I tend to find that the more abstract and challening the music, the more tight-knit the community. We try to support each other's endeavours as much as possible - and you'll find it's usually "New Music" ensembles, or jazz orchestras; ensembles with a bit more edge who lean slightly to the left that are doing most of the commissioning and supporting living/emerging artists. That's the body and soul of these groups - vibrant and living new music.

Hi Arfus!! TBH, Marius would be better off giving you advice on this, but here's my 2 cents. I assume you have no prior knowledge of orchestration, so you'll be basically starting afresh. I presume you're talking about Nathan Allen Pinard. He seems to use sound libraries like East West (EWQL) and Vienna Symphonic (VSL), and most probably with uses a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). So, in order to start off, you'll probably likewise need a DAW. There's lots of choice out there :) ...there's Logic, Cubase, Sonar at the higher commercial end of a few hundred bucks, there's the lower range DAWs like Fruityloops and REAPER at £50 each, to the freebies like Ardour and LMMS, which well, are free. However, I recommend you that you either buy a lower range DAW or try a free one first, as they'll probably be all you ever need, unless you're trying to break into the music industry. Allem Pinard also uses several sample libraries. Again, there's lots of choice to be found. However, unlike DAWs, quality comes at a price. Here are some of the main ones... EWQL (East West Quantom Leap) - this set of libraries are good, and at a more affordable price of $350 for the Gold edition. There are several versions, and others such as Silk, Symphonic Choirs, Ra, Stormdrum etc. so have a look around!! VSL (Vienna Symphonic Library) - This is for more professional composers. Unlike EWQL, VSL is a lot harder to utilise, and less 'out of a box', but generally regarded as better in terms of sheer quality. This comes at from $500 to $18,000, so shop carefully :P GPO (Garritan's Personal Orchestra) - Coming under $200, it's fairly good value for money. I used to not be a very big fan of it, but then I heard Knights and Magic by Richard Birdsall... wow Freebies - and of course, for cheapos like me, there's free samples found on the internet. Although if manipulated carefully, they can produce high quality music, they cannot rival the other libraries in terms of sheer quality.

Perhaps I've gotten too used to the NYP's flawless performances where their performances are usually better than recordings. Not all orchestras are that good...

One thing I might point out is that listening to music on YouTube or CD or even Vinyl doesn't compare in the slightest to hearing it live in the concert hall. It is very much an experience of going to the concert hall and listening to 100 live people create lovely sounds with pieces of wood and metal in their hands. No recording will ever replicate that feeling. So there is very much a value in going to the concert hall, otherwise the concert hall would be irrelevant.

I'm inclined to agree with the author of the article. Personally, I think 90%, if not more, of today's modern classical music is pretty much worthless and a paying customer definitely has the right to express their approval or disapproval within reason. However, many works now considered masterpieces now were poorly received initially (Stravinsky's Rite of Spring comes to mind). In the end, the true arbiter of the quality of one's work is the test of time.