How Do You Feel About Your Composition Professor?

I had two composition teachers, one for electronic music and one for traditional. I was simpatico with the first because he was inspirational, a free thinker and he was very supportive of all his students, regardless of what they came up with. 

The second one was a posturing gasbag whose idea of "traditional" music was Berg and Schoenberg. I have nothing against those composers or anyone who has adheres to that school of thought. But I was into Stravinsky in a big way, and he, apparently, was diametrically opposed to Stravinsky as perhaps Schoenberg himself was. So if you were in agreement with him you were his pal. If not, you were a speck on the wall. He was a twelve tone bigot. No other methodology ranked in his fenced off world. He once made a snide remark about Stravinsky, saying "Stravinsky would be nothing if not for the "repeated note." Such wisdom! As if rhythm and ostinato are just cheap tricks.

So who are your teachers? Do you like them, respect them, or do you just put up with them? Did you seek them out because of who there were or was the school itself more important?

what is this, the 1940s or something? lol.

I can't speak for my current composition professor because I haven't met him yet, but my old one, while being a serial composer himself, was nothing like the professor you mention. He was always encouraging all of his students to go in whatever stylistic direction they wanted to. If I'm honest, I suppose there was a bit of a clique of people who he liked and people he didn't but that was more to do with the amount of effort students were willing to put in rather than an adherence to a particular style or methodology.

I think most professors are smart enough to realise that the world has moved on since their day, so it surprises me that a professor would make a big deal about students using serial methods or not. Of course, every professor is a person with unique, subjective tastes so they may value certain aesthetic ideals over others, but I'd still expect them to be able to appreciate a good piece of work even if it isn't to their tastes. In my opinion, if there is one style that composition professors seem to be favouring at the moment, I'd say it's a sort of quasi-tonal post-modernism (whatever that even means), but that's sort of symptomatic of the direction that contemporary music as a whole seems to be moving in.

It seems like you have been unlucky with your professor but I don't think the sort of serial elitism you're talking about is widespread in universities at all. Not in 2013 anyway.

Ironically, Schoenberg himself never forced serialism onto his students, and actually encouraged them to write in whatever style they wanted!

All of my composition professors I have had have all been really great and very different. 

In my undergrad I studied with Dr. Steven Lias who himself is a very tonal composer. He pushed me outside my comfort zone a lot and help me expand my compositional language while never forcing me to do things I did not want to do. He also was a very practical composer which helped me write music that was performed more often and easier to rehearse as opposed to writing large symphonies that would never get performed. 

My current professor is Dr. Peter Fischer who is also a tonal composer. He got me to think more about my music by questioning my decisions. Even in my non-tonal works, he is their asking "what are these sets doing, and where are you going."

Last semester Dr. Fischer took a sabbatical so I had to study under my universities other composition professor, Dr. Mei Fang Lin. She is a non-tonal electronic composer for the most part. She was also very good at getting me to think about my music more. Kind of a mix of the Dr. Lias and Dr. Fischer in that she was very practical when it came to how I write (especially for piano) and how she questioned me causing me to really think more.

All of my composition professors never pushed something on me, but instead saw what my style was and tried to bring the best out of that while suggesting things to help me grow compositionally. 

I totally hated my progress-hampering professor, whose cumbersome methods have slowed down my learning curve so much and caused me to fall squarely into old-fashioned Romanticism.

BTW, I am completely self-taught  ;) . So guess who is this professor I'm talking about :p ...

I totally hated my progress-hampering professor, whose cumbersome methods have slowed down my learning curve so much and caused me to fall squarely into old-fashioned Romanticism.

 

BTW, I am self-taught  ;) .

I think I understand what you're saying.

Learning from a good teacher is an awesome experience. I've had several. But you can only learn so much. After that we're all self taught. On the other hand, If you are studying Mozart's symphonies in order to learn a certain aspect, isn't Mozart "teaching" you? Composers, dead and living, unwittingly teach me from a distance whenever I play their music.

I disagree with compositional classes as to me, the only way to truly learn to compose is to experiment by yourself.

I disagree with compositional classes as to me, the only way to truly learn to compose is to experiment by yourself.

Why does it have to be one or the other?

I've had plenty of composition classes but it doesn't mean I don't experiment by myself. In fact, most of my classes to date have consisted of me bringing in sketches and ideas that I'd come up with by experimenting then having my teacher suggest areas for improvement, highlight technical issues/flaws and just generally nudge me in the right direction to turn it into a piece of music that I'm reasonably happy with. It's always good to have someone listen to your music with a critical ear, even more so when that ear belongs to someone who is a much better composer than you.

Why does it have to be one or the other?

 

I've had plenty of composition classes but it doesn't mean I don't experiment by myself. In fact, most of my classes to date have consisted of me bringing in sketches and ideas that I'd come up with by experimenting then having my teacher suggest areas for improvement, highlight technical issues/flaws and just generally nudge me in the right direction to turn it into a piece of music that I'm reasonably happy with. It's always good to have someone listen to your music with a critical ear, even more so when that ear belongs to someone who is a much better composer than you.

Is there actually a right direction of composing? After all, "good" is relative. for example, many people think Debussy was a good composer, but I think his works are much too dissonant.

Yes, there is a "right direction", specifically the one that meets whatever aesthetic & qualitative standards you may have. Also bear in mind that even if you don't like a particular composer's music, you can still recognise the technical quality and craftsmanship that went into it, and try to learn those qualities from the composer while staying true to your own voice. i don't care much for Debussy's music either, but he was clearly a "good" composer in that he had an aesthetic vision and the ability to realise it to a high standard.

(That said, i still remain convinced that Wagner, Mahler and Puccini were hacks and don't have the faintest idea why people like them so much ;) )

Sadly, I have the same composition teacher as Austenite, but!  As I've gotten older, I've decided that pushing back against a teacher with whom you disagree can be one of the most formative learning experiences you will ever have.  If you can stop worrying about the grade, and seek to express your ideas in opposition to theirs, that will help you crystalize your views and learn to really think for yourself.  Having someone take the opposite view forces you to really examine your ideas and getting a little mad can lead to some really sterling work, as you seek to prove irrefutably that your ideas are worthy.  You will learn what is good, and also, what does not stand up to argument.  You will get a little closer to truth and beauty as a result.  

Although, sadly, particularly among younger students, there will be many who won't know that they are allowed to push back against a professor, or who worry that a bad grade will keep them from being allowed to take the next step academically.  It's an important life skill to learn to argue politely and respectfully, but still passionately.  Probably comes easier to those of us with siblings.  (:

Sadly, I have the same composition teacher as Austenite, but!  As I've gotten older, I've decided that pushing back against a teacher with whom you disagree can be one of the most formative learning experiences you will ever have.  If you can stop worrying about the grade, and seek to express your ideas in opposition to theirs, that will help you crystalize your views and learn to really think for yourself.  Having someone take the opposite view forces you to really examine your ideas and getting a little mad can lead to some really sterling work, as you seek to prove irrefutably that your ideas are worthy.  You will learn what is good, and also, what does not stand up to argument.  You will get a little closer to truth and beauty as a result.  

 

Although, sadly, particularly among younger students, there will be many who won't know that they are allowed to push back against a professor, or who worry that a bad grade will keep them from being allowed to take the next step academically.  It's an important life skill to learn to argue politely and respectfully, but still passionately.  Probably comes easier to those of us with siblings.  (:

Well said, and partly why I originally posted (to finally get it off my chest). I wouldn't have dreamed to go against Prof. Robohead back then because although I had ideas of my own I really didn't know what I was doing, and the idea of asserting myself to people I had the tendency to put on pedestals never occurred to me. And yes, there was that grade, and a life lesson learned.

My teachers have been great!!!  The person who changed my life: James Aikman.  He has a gift of compositional pedagogy.