Transcript first point - Dmitri Tymoczko

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THEORY AND COMPOSITION
Dmitri Tymoczko
Princeton University
[email protected]
http://dmitri.tymoczko.com
INTRODUCTION
Bigand, et. al. “On Listening To Atonal Variants Of Two
Piano Sonatas By Beethoven,” Music Perception 26:3
(2009), 223-234.
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FIRST POINT
• Theory is unnecessary.
– We can make music out of force, gesture,
energy, trajectory.
– Penderecki, Xenakis, Varese, Ligeti, early
Schoenberg
• From 1500-1900 music theory was
obsessed with rules and composers were
mostly obedient:
– Rules about harmony
– Rules of counterpoint
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AMAZING DIGRESSION
• In 1600, Monteverdi
imagined a new and
free music in which
nonharmonic tones
could not be
“reduced” to harmonic
tones.
• He was attacked by
Artusi, a spokesman
for theoretical
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AMAZING DIGRESSION
• Historians say that
Monteverdi won the
debate by having his
music accepted.
• But in the grand
scheme of things
Artusi was the
winner: later
composers were less
free than Monteverdi
with nonharmonic
tones.
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FIRST POINT
• The big realization of twentieth-century
music is that rules were not essential.
– Many musicians and theorists have shied
away from this realization.
• They have tried for find structure in music where
structure is not the point.
• So, what is theory good for?
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SECOND POINT
• Four uses of theory:
1. Some musicians have felt there is
something missing from the music of pure
gesture
2. Being a composer involves writing a lot of
notes.
• Theory can help you make choices quicker.
3. Theory can lead you to music you might not
otherwise have been able to imagine.
4. Theory can give you a reason to value your
material.
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BEETHOVEN REDUX
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STRAVINSKY
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STRAVINSKY
An amazing twodimensional
coherence!
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FOR ME
• For me the primary use of theory is to
reinforce my belief that different musical
styles are related.
– Branches of the same tree
• So much music is idiomatic
– A matter of repeating familiar patterns
– By understanding music more deeply I feel I
can free myself from those patterns and
learn to “modulate” between different kinds
of music.
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FOOLS AND ANGELS
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THIRD POINT: CHOOSING NOTES
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FOURTH POINT
• In the modern world, there is no line
between processes or algorithms, on the
one hand, and improvisation and
spontaneity on the other.
• This is because algorithms can be made
interactive.
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FIFTH POINT
• At first, young composers work very hard
to avoid incoherence in their music.
• The problem is, this sometimes leads
them to avoid the unexpected.
• The challenge in writing music is to
create surprise without incoherence.
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FIFTH POINT
“Music is a logical deduction
from absurd premises.”
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SIXTH POINT
• Theory, done right, should not constrain
your compositional imagination.
– It should open your mind to new possibilities.
• Music as a kind of play.
– Improvising
– Digital delay and other effects
– “Sampling”
– Natural selection
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THE THOUSAND FACES OF FORM
• Commissioned by the KitchenerWaterloo Symphony
• Video by Nathan Selikoff
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Thank you!