tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post269304624525646731..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Naming ConventionsBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-40269052734475002452017-10-27T08:35:21.778-05:002017-10-27T08:35:21.778-05:00I might wait until the piece is finished before I ...I might wait until the piece is finished before I decide on a title.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-2306452104846353602017-10-26T15:07:28.137-05:002017-10-26T15:07:28.137-05:00I mourn the loss of sonatas and symphonies and con...I mourn the loss of sonatas and symphonies and concertos in the contemporary lot of highly individualized titles and forms. Fantasy is at least a pretty traditional title with some real sense of what is to come, so Octatonic Fantasy seems a very nice title. Might it alternatively be a Fantasy on an Octatonic Theme? Or an Octatonic Fantasy on a [descriptive] Theme?Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-43142607574146644622017-10-21T08:33:47.557-05:002017-10-21T08:33:47.557-05:00Nicky, welcome to the Music Salon and thanks for t...Nicky, welcome to the Music Salon and thanks for the interesting comment.<br /><br />I think you nail the biggest problem with the "literary" or "interpretive" titles. They prejudice the listener's reception of the piece to a significant extent. Did any of the reviewers/audiences of the Penderecki piece just approach it for its musical content? With you, I suspect not.<br /><br />Octatonic Fantasy it is! Why didn't anyone like "Glissandi in Contrary Motion"? I thought it sounded very Philip Glass...Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-1025362254206112092017-10-21T02:10:31.899-05:002017-10-21T02:10:31.899-05:00After skimming Thomas Adès's Wikipedia page re...After skimming Thomas Adès's Wikipedia page recently, I too have been wondering about the names used by contemporary composers, names that could belong to either a sci-fi B movie, or...a violin concerto. Hmm.<br /><br />As a listener, I expect the name to convey some kind of information that will prepare me to understand what I'm about to hear. Given how I listen, that's usually structural information.<br /><br />When a piece is actually program music, and the name declares the program, then a fancy name seems appropriate. If a piece is absolute music, then a name denoting its structure, classification, chronology, etc. seems appropriate.<br /><br />Of the names you gave, I feel most prepared by 'Octatonic Fantasy'. :)<br /><br />Giving literary names to pieces of absolute music is insidious. The very last thing I want is to be infected by the germ of a retroactive or superficial interpretation.<br /><br />Asides - <br /><br />1. My first thought on encountering 'Threnody' was, "Is this sympathy or cynicism?" I will never be able to regard that piece in terms of its music alone, because of its name. To me, text adds to music a separate cultural dependency, constraining to whom it and it what ways it can be relevant. Political text is an exchange of credibility for popularity - which, if you're hungry, is a fair trade, but otherwise suspect in the extreme. (I like Penderecki, too, but...nope.)<br /><br />2. Sort of apples and oranges, but on the idea of external ideas infecting music: The person who introduced me to Beethoven's third string quartet advised to forget that first theme of the fourth movement sounded like the Mexican hat dance. It took weeks for that suggestion to be undone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02741163222304198863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-15981135678211025112017-10-16T13:01:33.835-05:002017-10-16T13:01:33.835-05:00You might be right! I will certainly consider it, ...You might be right! I will certainly consider it, because, frankly, Concert Piece is rather dull.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-23267887429410961172017-10-16T11:55:22.326-05:002017-10-16T11:55:22.326-05:00I second Octatonic Fantasy. It gives one an (admit...I second Octatonic Fantasy. It gives one an (admittedly vague) idea of its harmony and structure, and doesn't whiff of pretentiousness and cliche (*cough cough* Nico Muhly, 'Seeing is Believing'). You could use an early English spelling for added peculiarity -- fantasie, or fancy even.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14149675706182647770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-14203705657846737812017-10-16T11:34:55.295-05:002017-10-16T11:34:55.295-05:00That's a very good point! Maybe I should go wi...That's a very good point! Maybe I should go with "Octatonic Fantasy."Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-41801309793792606302017-10-16T11:10:03.185-05:002017-10-16T11:10:03.185-05:00I understand that student composers are advised to...I understand that student composers are advised to give especially careful thought to titles because a good title can help immensely with the work's reception. In other words, it helps sell the piece. A case in point is Penderecki's iconic "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" which got a lot of attention in the 1960s. His original title for it was 8'37". I doubt if the work would have attracted much attention with that title; on the other hand, linking it to nuclear annihilation (something on everyone's mind at the height of the Cold War) was very shrewd marketing.Genenoreply@blogger.com