Working on a song cycle based on poems by Ogden Nash. One version for piano and high voice (soprano or tenor,) the other for high voice accompanied by cello, Bb Clarinet, and violin. Their gonna be an amalgamation of elements from jazz, pop, atonality, musical theater, and other "modern" idioms. At the same time, I'm still playin' around at the piano with some freestyle pop (just making up whatever comes to mind in a sort of indy-folk-pop style." Call me crazy. Neither of these things I'm working on are very progressive or revolutionary, which calls to attention an interesting point. In MUS-411 (Contemporary Styles and Techniques) this morning, we debated about which 20th-century composers were more revolutionary and which ones were more backward-looking or sedentary in their style. I'd like to ask everyone this question regarding the same topic: In your experience with "formal" music, which composers would you say are the most progressive (pushing their art to new heights,) and in "pop" music, which composers/artists are the most progressive? Who's influencing music the most today? Comments, as always, are more than appreciated.
The way I see it, there are two ways in which the appreciation of music manifests itself (and therefore validates the quality of a piece). First, there is the technical or formal means of judging a work, which is where people who actually know something about music theory and history can form an intelligent analysis based on their knowledge of other works and of the mechanics of a piece. For the rest of us, the appreciation of music lies primarily in mental stimulus and emotional response. Since "the rest of us" make up the larger part of the listening public, I think they are the ones who are influencing music the most today, at least that music which is submitted to commercialization. The ability of a commercial artist to be progressive is limited by the toleration of his/her audience.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is considered "progressive" anyway? Using unconventional instrumentation groupings? Using unusual time signatures? Is there really anything that hasn't EVER been done before? Not trying to be controversial, just want to know.
ReplyDeleteAs per your first comment, yes, people do infuence music on the whole, but an artist can push the boundaries and be radical within the public's "like zone."
ReplyDeleteAs for the second, progressive is really anything that break convetionality of any kind. This is the definition according to Dictionary.com:
"favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, esp. in political matters: a progressive mayor."
So basically, it's that definition applied to music. And yes, there are things that haven't been done that would be considered progressive... for instance: incorporating the sound of an elephant sitting on a piano as an integral theme of a symphony. ;)