A question to composers: Do you feel moved by your own music?

[greg]

I was typing this by pm, Maciek, but realized there is no file attachment feature on pm, so i'll post it here.

A little added, nothing left out, everything compressed and varied.

It's been so long since I've heard In C, that while writing this, I had no idea what any performance actually sounds like. The high point of the piece was the timpani entrance and the overall texture- even though i wanted to keep it "true" as possible, I heard timpani in my head, and breaking the rules a bit, I think it's quite a sweet effect!

[Guido]

Of course, Nabokov is a case of an author aware of his own greatness.

Oh really?

[Maciek]

Hm... I wanted to think of an adequately sarcastic response, but they would all have a twist beyond my control.

Version 1:
Yes.
[conversation for the sake of conversation - but what does the smiley mean? "no"? ]

Version 2:
Well, perhaps not to the extent that he should have been.
[given that he was one of the greatest writers in history - that would make sense; but he did seem to have quite a high opinion of himself - in fact, most people are taken aback by his looming ego - so perhaps this would be a hyperbole...? maybe he took it too far?]

Version 3:
Well, perhaps he even went too far with it...
[OK, but did he, really? I mean, given that etc.]



Damn, these things are impossible to pin down! (And maybe we should be grateful.)

Gombrowicz - now there's a case of overblown sense of achievement. Or is it? I mean: 1. he was a great writer/thinker. 2. with Gombrowicz you can be sure that there's an element of irony to everything he says, probably even when he is praising himself...

And anyway, his phrase was, if I remember correctly "I am the center of my universe". Well, who can argue with that?

[Maciek]

Is it just me, or has suddenly got awfully chatty in here? 0:)

[Haffner]

I was typing this by pm, Maciek, but realized there is no file attachment feature on pm, so i'll post it here.

A little added, nothing left out, everything compressed and varied.

It's been so long since I've heard In C, that while writing this, I had no idea what any performance actually sounds like. The high point of the piece was the timpani entrance and the overall texture- even though i wanted to keep it "true" as possible, I heard timpani in my head, and breaking the rules a bit, I think it's quite a sweet effect!

Hey, this is cool! Too bad about the midi thing, the sound is terrible.

[Maciek]

I was typing this by pm, Maciek, but realized there is no file attachment feature on pm, so i'll post it here.

A little added, nothing left out, everything compressed and varied.

It's been so long since I've heard In C, that while writing this, I had no idea what any performance actually sounds like. The high point of the piece was the timpani entrance and the overall texture- even though i wanted to keep it "true" as possible, I heard timpani in my head, and breaking the rules a bit, I think it's quite a sweet effect!

Ah, yes, sorry, I got carried away with the Nabokov thing. Thank you very much for this!

[Guido]

Ah, yes, sorry, I got carried away with the Nabokov thing. Thank you very much for this!

No it is very intersting. My post wasn't meant to be in the least bit sarcastic.

[greg]

Hey, this is cool! Too bad about the midi thing, the sound is terrible.

I need a Henning-style ensemble..... 

Hm... I wanted to think of an adequately sarcastic response, but they would all have a twist beyond my control.

Version 1:
Yes.
[conversation for the sake of conversation - but what does the smiley mean? "no"? ]

Version 2:
Well, perhaps not to the extent that he should have been.
[given that he was one of the greatest writers in history - that would make sense; but he did seem to have quite a high opinion of himself - in fact, most people are taken aback by his looming ego - so perhaps this would be a hyperbole...? maybe he took it too far?]

Version 3:
Well, perhaps he even went too far with it...
[OK, but did he, really? I mean, given that etc.]



Damn, these things are impossible to pin down! (And maybe we should be grateful.)

Gombrowicz - now there's a case of overblown sense of achievement. Or is it? I mean: 1. he was a great writer/thinker. 2. with Gombrowicz you can be sure that there's an element of irony to everything he says, probably even when he is praising himself...

And anyway, his phrase was, if I remember correctly "I am the center of my universe". Well, who can argue with that?

I've never heard of these guys. How bad is his ego? Is it worse than Wagner's? 

[Maciek]

My post wasn't meant to be in the least bit sarcastic.

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

[Cato]

A long time ago I started a topic called "Why I  Am NOT A Composer" which might be gone now.  To give you the salient parts of my essay, I found myself being disturbed by what I had composed, the few times I heard something performed.  My mental ear knew - in one sense - that yes, it should sound like this, and you knew it would sound like this, but the shock of actually hearing it with the outer ears was to a certain extent frightening.  I was able to endure it, in any case, but then a second unpleasant feeling arose, and that was the psychological exposure produced by my music.

It was like watching your soul being dissected in public, watching a soccer team kick your id around the field while people cheered.  Because of this highly unpleasant result, I decided that, despite any talent I had in composition, I had no real desire to let people into my musical psyche. 

So why compose anything?  I still entertain myself with various ideas, but no, they will not appear on music paper.

[Guido]

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

No, really! Really no. (or is there... no there really isn't!)

A long time ago I started a topic called "Why I  Am NOT A Composer" which might be gone now.  To give you the salient parts of my essay, I found myself being disturbed by what I had composed, the few times I heard something performed.  My mental ear knew - in one sense - that yes, it should sound like this, and you knew it would sound like this, but the shock of actually hearing it with the outer ears was to a certain extent frightening.  I was able to endure it, in any case, but then a second unpleasant feeling arose, and that was the psychological exposure produced by my music.

It was like watching your soul being dissected in public, watching a soccer team kick your id around the field while people cheered.  Because of this highly unpleasant result, I decided that, despite any talent I had in composition, I had no real desire to let people into my musical psyche. 

So why compose anything?  I still entertain myself with various ideas, but no, they will not appear on music paper.

Fascinating Cato!

[karlhenning]

Cato's post is truly fascinating.  Still considering it.

[greg]

A long time ago I started a topic called "Why I  Am NOT A Composer" which might be gone now.  To give you the salient parts of my essay, I found myself being disturbed by what I had composed, the few times I heard something performed.  My mental ear knew - in one sense - that yes, it should sound like this, and you knew it would sound like this, but the shock of actually hearing it with the outer ears was to a certain extent frightening.  I was able to endure it, in any case, but then a second unpleasant feeling arose, and that was the psychological exposure produced by my music.

It was like watching your soul being dissected in public, watching a soccer team kick your id around the field while people cheered.  Because of this highly unpleasant result, I decided that, despite any talent I had in composition, I had no real desire to let people into my musical psyche. 

So why compose anything?  I still entertain myself with various ideas, but no, they will not appear on music paper.

All that hard work for..................... entertaining ideas in your head?