Originality

There are always new things to try in a composition, small and large. And I agree that it's very possible, probably even probable, that in 50 or so years, a completely new style of composition will have developed.

I think originality in the sense of being true to you own self ("this above all - to thine own self be true" Shakespeare, Hamlet), is paramount in all art as well as in all human existence.

Luder

this morning I showed my choir pianist my piano composition. She like the composition. Sadly, she said that part of the melody sound similar to another composition. Weirdly I felt like I was a failure for not being original.

lol I am so random..

I think originality in the sense of being true to you own self ("this above all - to thine own self be true" Shakespeare, Hamlet), is paramount in all art as well as in all human existence.

Luder

Ah, good, I like.

Just a question bud. How do we find our "True Inner Selves"?

Ah, good, I like.

Just a question bud. How do we find our "True Inner Selves"?

By trying and not unquestioningly accepting material foreign to us.

Luder

There are always new things to try in a composition, small and large. And I agree that it's very possible, probably even probable, that in 50 or so years, a completely new style of composition will have developed.

Nah.

In a few years, there will be NO completely new concepts. Tonal music ran out of new stuff AGES ago and there's not many avant-garde/serialist/atonal techniques left. This is why composers are turning to extra-musical sources for material (such as mathematics); also microtonality has arisen out of a necessity for 'new' resources with which to compose.

There's not a lot left...any ideas?

I've yet to hear a piece that uses only 1 note

Well, David Cope's "Songs of the Navaho", the third one uses only one note, all instruments play one note (and voices).

You will also find some minimalistic pieces playing one or two notes. Minimalists believe that the more times you hear a note, you hear it differently, so they rely a lot on repetition of notes.

And hadn't I posted before in this thread? I thought I had, and I was looking for my post before writing this one... :X

Also, I do believe originality is important. I partly believe what robinjessome beieves, but on the other hand, I have no right to say what will happen in 50 years. People in the 40's thought they had found the smallest elementary particles before the discovery of quarks in the 60's.

Besides, there's electronic music too, in which everyone can create their own sounds. New sounds, new music! :D (or not? I bet robinjessome is going to bash me now by citing me examples from his lectures or something, please someone save meeeeee :) )

why this obsession with "newness"?

I happen to not believe that tonal music has said its last. I think there are still MANY great things to be said within its bounds. I'm certainly going to try and do so myself. I happen to believe it is possible to be modern AND tonal at the same time.

If all you seek are ways of being "new", then you forget that you are also supposed to be creating "music". Music is expressive in nature. It is not like scientific research where new frontiers are broken, civilization-changing discoveries made, universes discovered. Music is about expressing yourself. Music is about communicating with others.

When the expression of yourself really IS from you, then you are original. As long as you are imitating someone else, then you are not taking the time to express yourself. You are expressing someone else.

And while we're at it, if you are obsessed with breaking new ground, then you are not taking the time to express yourself either. You are only trying to find limits and then trying to get beyond them. Why should there be limits to expression? Why should you absolutely need new tools to express yourself? Why should pre-existing tools be invalid? Why shouldn't new tools and old tools function perfectly well together?

Use a tool that exists, and use it to express what YOU have to say, in YOUR own way. THAT is originality.

I haven't heard that sentiment expressed quite so well before, QC. Thanks for that.

Music as a means of self-expression. What a concept.

On a personal note, that's why I do what I do in the way I do it...not because I can't produce anything modern - I've proven that I can - but because I express myself best in that musical language.

I happen to not believe that tonal music has said its last. I think there are still MANY great things to be said within its bounds. ... I happen to believe it is possible to be modern AND tonal at the same time.

I totally agree, there's still an infinite number of stories to tell (in tonal music or otherwise) - I just feel that the building blocks and tools used to tell the stories have all been discovered. There are few true innovations left. To clarify, I mean there's no new scales, forms, chords, instrumental techniques, dynamics, etc - no one will discover a new fundamental aspect of music. It's how a composer puts these things together that makes him original or innovative.

The personal voice of the composer can be heard no matter what style they write in - this is where the magic happens, somehow. Something we all strive towards and aspire to: a distinct individual voice within the confines of existing tools and materials.

...

I've yet to hear a piece that uses only 1 note

Also -

Elliot Carter's Etude No. 7 - it's a single G.

Also, there's an Elegie by some composer who teaches at Interlochen that's just a solo cello playing an E.

I totally agree, there's still an infinite number of stories to tell (in tonal music or otherwise) - I just feel that the building blocks and tools used to tell the stories have all been discovered. There are few true innovations left. To clarify, I mean there's no new scales, forms, chords, instrumental techniques, dynamics, etc - no one will discover a new fundamental aspect of music. It's how a composer puts these things together that makes him original or innovative.

The personal voice of the composer can be heard no matter what style they write in - this is where the magic happens, somehow. Something we all strive towards and aspire to: a distinct individual voice within the confines of existing tools and materials.

...

thank-you Robin, I'm glad I had misunderstood your take on the subject. I see that we are basically in complete accord.