tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post1684848396911410087..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Classical Music's "Business Model"Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-44298074823508658302014-01-12T16:27:56.177-06:002014-01-12T16:27:56.177-06:00Ah, now I understand! Yes, this movement is in in ...Ah, now I understand! Yes, this movement is in in the "relative Ionian". You might try, as kind of practice, seeing how many different bass lines you could write for the same melody. Or study Bach's bass lines in his chorales. But really good start with this movement.<br /><br />Luckily there is no "Académie Russe" to designate what is correctly and incorrectly Russian! So you can do pretty much what you want. Russian music, to my mind, tends to be colorful, melancholic and sometimes fiercely dancelike.<br /><br />You bet, we should all spend more time composing! And now I have to get back to my second quartet.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-8808647187747069092014-01-12T11:06:08.775-06:002014-01-12T11:06:08.775-06:00Something to add that I was thinking of but forgot...Something to add that I was thinking of but forgot: Speaking of developing pieces the 3rd movement for instance (which is in C Aeolian) is a vivace in 4/4 I decided to call "Scherzo alla Russe" (thought it sounded Russian although it might not actually sound correctly Russian but whatever, also surely is not 3/4 but scherzo ofc doesn't necessarily have to mean a presto 3/4 movement). Now I have a hopefully solid phrase of 8 bars (maybe it's two phrases of 4 bars each, I don't know) and I have lots of ideas (which for the most part build on the same sort of motif) that might come to use later in the movement, however figuring out something suiting to come directly after the first 8 bars is the tricky part. Anyways, I should spend less time talking about it and more time composing. Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-55736309754709589342014-01-12T10:47:00.310-06:002014-01-12T10:47:00.310-06:00Well, the complete piece itself is in C Aeolian, t...Well, the complete piece itself is in C Aeolian, the same way you have a piece in a minor key that has a movement that is in a major key or simply just another minor key. Right now the work in progress 1st, 3rd and 4th movements are in C Aeolian and just this one movement is in the relative ionian. I like to call it aeolian and ionian as I compose within the various modes. This piece/movement happens to be tonal. Could have called the piece "Bass Guitar Duet in C Minor" but I prefer it with Aeolian since I'm pretty sure I won't raise the 6th or 7ths unless it's part of some kind of modulation, lets say to G aeolian where the Ab gets raised to A. I do have somewhat of a problem with writing bass lines. That and structure/developing pieces. I've been assigned recently practice writing from bass up (this piece/movement isn't written that way), it's certainly harder for me than doing the other way around (i.e. starting with the melody and finding something that suits in the bass). But that's the point, I need to practice. Thanks for the tip, I will check out some Bach.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-80204356549291311302014-01-12T08:16:30.126-06:002014-01-12T08:16:30.126-06:00Something I should have talked about more was the ...Something I should have talked about more was the notion of a "business model". This phrase is tossed around all the time, but I'm not sure many people in music understand what it means. Essentially a business model is a plan whereby a business outlines how it, in the words of Wikipedia, "creates, delivers and captures value" and by value they mean monetary value. The business model is not about how wonderful the music is, it is about how many tickets you sell versus what your expenses are. If Mr. Bloomberg says that City Opera's business model isn't working he simply means that they are spending more on their productions than they are receiving on gate receipts plus donations. The business model for classical music organizations is always to lose money on every concert, even with a full house, but make it up with patron donations. If you can't attract enough wealthy patrons, then you are done for.<br /><br />I listened to your new piece with interest. I am curious why you say it is in "C Aeolian". This is the same scale as what you might call "C natural minor" i.e. without using accidentals to raise the 6th and 7th scale degrees. And true enough, except for a phrase near the end that uses A natural, I don't see any accidentals. But if you mean by "Aeolian" that the piece is in minor, i.e. that the "tonic" chord is a minor one as it would be in the Aeolian mode (on A, spelled ACE), then that isn't what is happening here. The music is a slow gigue in E flat major with a contrasting passage in F major. I see this from the harmony and the cadences. For example, at the beginning there is a twelve measure phrase in three sections of four measures each. The first is all E flat major, the second moves from E flat to A flat and back and the third has a weak cadence that goes II6/4, V6, I. There aren't any C minor chords anywhere!!<br /><br />Apart from that, it has a lot of nice things. I agree with the comments that it is a mix of Bach and Celtic. It is a kind of slow jig. But I think the weak aspect is the bass line. Have a look at some of Bach's bass lines to see how harmonically and melodically inventive they can be!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85053440444455207212014-01-12T04:47:01.759-06:002014-01-12T04:47:01.759-06:00I wonder what kind of business model Tommasini wou...I wonder what kind of business model Tommasini would like to see. Raising ticket prices? Firing musicians to reduce the orchestra size? Dedicating more concert time into pop music instead of classical? None of these "solutions" work well.<br />Well, what is needed I think is making classical music more popular not by simplifying it but simply giving it more exposure, more attention. This would bring new listeners into the concert halls. Another thing it would do is increasing the number of rich people supporting various classical music institutions (which is something needed as you say).<br /><br />Anyways, I have a new piece (or rather a movement from a piece I'm working on) to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXojb0sHz1M<br /><br />Feel free to tell what you think.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.com