Karl Haas has a wonderfully long running FM radio
program at 11:00 a.m. every day. Occasionally, he
asks his audience to guess the composer of the
music being performed. In time, after years of
listening to the masters, it is not too difficult to
guess the composer. They are as different as night
and day. Beethoven is often bold. Mozart is
intricately beautiful. Tchaikovsky is diverse and
extremely colorful. Wagner displays great breadth in
instrument selection with powerful assertions. From
England, Ralph Vaughn Williams has a unique style of
melody and harmonics. Sir Edward Elgar may have
composed the smoothest turn of the century music
ever written (Crown of India Suite). Other
composers who were incomparably unique were
Vivaldi (violin), Ravel (intrigue), Grieg (pristine and
beauty) and Dvorak (full orchestra & melodic master),
to name a famous few. In other words, all that is
symphony is not the same. Each composer's
personality is different making their music beautifully
and uniquely different. That difference is reflected in
their style of composition. The little one pictured
above was destined to be quite different.
Composing a symphony is a lonely endeavor. Such
creative works often requires years to complete.
Rachmaninov reportedly required seventeen years to
complete his Piano Concerto No. 1. An important part
of appreciating symphony is the realization of the
extroardinary and rare quality of the individuals that
bring symphony to our concert halls.
Only 2 per-cent of CD sales at Best Buy are of the
classical music genre. Therefore, a small percentage
of the audience at large has interest in classical
music. Being a composer who started late in life, I
believe I have some insight into that interesting
phenomenon. At the age of seven, I began to learn
harmony by singing country songs with my baby
sitter; quickly learning to add harmony to her
melodies. Over the years, my family listened to opera
and symphony. My preference was for sepia and jazz.
I liked the rhythms of Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Lionel
Hampton and Andre Previn. But youthful harmony
was the key to my future as a composer. A
necessary talent that was not encouraged or trained
for later development. There was no mother in our
home and my father was not musically inclined. I
matriculated to the world of symphony at the age of
10 and graduated to that wonderful world at the age
of 32 by collecting and listening to the masters. It
didn't take long to realize that a composer's
personality brought vastly different compositions.
Perhaps the most edifying and surprising knowledge I
garnered was that all compositions by the classical
composers are not equal. A rather small percentage
of their repertoires are famous or frequently
performed. Regrettably, some of the less enjoyable
music is performed because of name recognition
alone. Conductors and instrumentalists rise to the
occasion when the program presents the music of
classical composers. Similarly, FM radio stations
select quite often by name and without regard to
audience preference or perception. Sometimes
financial contributors influence the selection of music.
While I have not achieved the name recognitiion of
famous composers and possibly never shall, it is
rather interesting to reflect back on my ideation
when contemplating my first symphony composition
at age 55. Very simply, I knew personality was the
key to composers and their evolution of symphonies.
Logically, I thought my proven talent for harmony and
knowledge of the Grand Staff would permit me to
compose. Further, I believed my own personality was
long proven to be unquestionably different from my
peers and that fact alone allowed me to begin
composing the first of nine symphonies. Rightfully or
not, I was, at age 55, beginning to enjoy a
confidence in myself previously and hitherto
unknown.
Confidence allowed me to begin my work but humility
was very soon to replace my confidence. It did not
take long to learn that composing symphony was
going to be an unbelievable and most arduous and
demanding task. A labor of love that would endure
day in and day out, night in and night out for twelve
incredible years. It was also absolutely essential that
I continue because I had lost the love of my life
through insidious family jealousies and therefore,
delving into such a great project was the only way I
could happily survive. Each measure and passage of
composition kept me focused on a new, lasting and
self appointed beauty. Composition was a well timed
God send that brought a decade of enjoyable delight
to my senses.
We cannot deny the importance of "delight" in life on
this earth. The potential for delight is everywhere in
nature, throughout the tender voice of love and
friendship. The color scheme of flowers and animals,
sunrise and sunsets prove my point. Throughout
the vast array of symphonies there are emotive
responses that arrive through the senses. In many
symphonies, from yestreday and in music composed
today, there, is by virtue of the personality. motives
and distinctly unique qualities of the composer, the
ever presence of "delight".
From the turn of the century, several or many famous
composers came to this country and wrote scores for
films and documentaries. A new industry brought new
opportunities and beautiful new music. Dvorak's
New World Symphony is perhaps one of the
best examples of new music in the 20th Century.
Rachmaninov wrote numerous film scores. This is to
say we should not doubt the evolving genius of the
20th and 21st Centuries. We should eagerly await
and look forward to such new music. In the "Paradigm
of Progress" we may expect the best of such music
to be enjoyably "delightful".
