A physical recording is a reminder of the when-ness of something; it provides historical context and a portal into the mindset of another time.
Who can afford to be a practitioner of that most labor-intensive, under-compensated, high-overhead of art forms, art music composition, unless you live in music-crazed Finland.
There’s a a new music betting pool for that?
LIFE—fluid, invisible, inaudible… is simple yet deep in its fundamental concepts, important in its themes, and excellent in its realization.
Composers obsess on strange things. For me, it’s the gender role stereotypes and sexuality surrounding any given instrument.
Desperately seeking orchestra music that is new in every regard.
Can a private institution control its artistic agenda in a way that a public one cannot?
While one can argue about the importance of remaining true to one’s ideals, when writing music for a large ensemble such as an orchestra, what is practical is ultimately what will get done.
New music has been experiencing a surge of popularity over the past couple decades, but, at least in the orchestral world, it still plays the role of underdog. But even if new music does become standard in orchestral concerts across the nation, the music will always be of its time and by definition will always be new; and so it will always be fun to root for.
Remarkable as Elliott Carter’s productive longevity is, he is far from the only composer who has given the lie to the Mozartean mythology that composing genius traces an early trajectory.