<p>compmom - I understand that you cannot share the name of your daughter’s famous rock musician classmate. But if I could write him a fan letter, I would thank him for putting in this work, and as a rock fan, I am looking forward to his stepping up the game!</p>
<p>yeah-</p>
<p>I don’t think the university you were at taught only ‘new’ music because ‘that is where the boundaries are only’, that ‘everything has been done before’, that is a function of the culture of the department and the views of the people who teach there,and is what I was alluding to. One of the ideas of 20th century/modern music, whether it be dissonance, 12 tone music, serialism and whatnot, was that it was supposed to break the idea that there were rules, that in the past had in many ways limited what musicians and composers could do. Bach stretched the rules, Mozart did at times,Haydyn did, and Beethoven very much did, especially with his late chamber music, but they were still bound by rules of composition that often were quite straight jacketing. Sadly, the attitude that somehow writing in neo classical form or neo romantic is ‘passe’ is putting the same rules in place. Jennifer Higdon and Joan Tower have both been interviewed/written on the subject and they both said that when they were young and caught up in the excitement of “new” music, that they felt much that way, but as they got older they realized that was as much a dead end as saying a symphony had to have a central key that it always returned to…and their music reflects that these days, and people like Glass and Adams, who were at the vanguard of the ‘new music’, write music that feels right to them, that encompasses a variety of styles. My take is that you need to find a department that fits your own voice and needs, and that when a department does things a certain way doesnn’t necessarily mean it is the best way (especially for yourself), that in music there is a lot out there that depends on the views and culture of the teachers, that may or may not work for a student. </p>
<p>One possible insight is to listen to student pieces from the various schools, and see if the students in program A or B or C all sound similar to you, if so that could be an indication of a)the kind of students they take and b)a dominant view of music with little room for individuality. As I wrote in an earlier post, I heard 3 premieres the last year of pieces written by 3 different students in one well known graduate program, and their pieces were much the same in style, in the mode of Phillip Glass in his 1970’s mode:). With studies like this, I believe you need to find the match for what you want to do, a place where your own voice is an important part of the mix, rather then being your voice done in some dominant style (my opinion, obviously, your experience may or may not fit that). I wish you well!</p>
<p>This is a good discussion. Everyone who breaks rules (like the serialists) seems to eventually make a new orthodoxy out of not having those rules. But at present I don’t think of new music as being any particular style or school. It is a wider term for me, encompassing all kinds of concert music.</p>
<p>I think that academic music is opening up again, and that a little melody is no longer a bad thing. Innovation is often balanced by respect for the past. But I don’t know as much about the academic scene as Yeah 1981. (I forgot that he had done a BM already.) Just an impression.</p>
<p>Maybe worrying about grades or pleasing the professor drives some of the similarity. I don’t really know. Our daughter loves studying the theory, history and ethnomusicology at school, but she seems to prefer composing on her own, with the mentoring of a teacher who has nothing to do with her university!</p>
<p>Anyway, it seems, Yeah 1981, that a lot of us enjoy your music, so good luck!</p>
<p>p.s. our daughter just came home and listened here, & really liked Ballerin, Amsterdam and Wall Street a lot. During Wall Street she commented that she could see why you like Ligeti, that his is “spacious” and your music has that quality.</p>