Shameful Tales From the Movie-Scoring Trade

[Monsieur Croche]

'The contemporary classical composer will tend to go out of their way, discarding or re-writing anything which sounds too 'similar to,' to steer clear away from having their work sound like another composer's work, whether it is an actual passage, or because it sounds too much like another composer's identifiable general style.  this includes not using or borrowing what have become too well-known iconic gestures which were penned by others [that is relative and on a case by case basis].  Any of those instances usually occasion a radical re-think and re-write, or a complete disposal and 'back to the drawing board.'  That is the ethic within the classical milieu.''

If this is the case, it must surely be to the great detriment of contemporary classical music.  It is as though, most of the best stuff has already been done, and now we have rules which only allow a composer to pick at the edges and peer down the cracks.  The end product is the result of largely non-musical decisions, and surely the music itself is fatally compromised.

That ''contemporary'' should be taken as the continually contemporary throughout all the eras. Mozart as contemporary, etc. None of the big boys were terribly eager to sound too much like any of the other big boys, even when an era tended to one general style.

As for, ''The well is now tragically dry.'' -- that complaint has been a perpetual whinge since there has been a general public, critics, and newspapers.

You can relax. The well is not dry. Though the more obvious cribbers from the film-score set could leave one to believe that indeed, that well is dry, it just isn't true; the only truth it confirms is that every musical era and genre has some composers making a career while having a lot less originality and imagination going for them. That is nothing new, either.

[Karl Henning]

As for, ''The well is now tragically dry.'' -- that complaint has been a perpetual whinge since there has been a general public, critics, and newspapers.

You can relax. The well is not dry. Though the more obvious cribbers from the film-score set could leave one to believe that indeed, that well is dry, it just isn't true; the only truth it confirms is that every musical era and genre has some composers making a career while having a lot less originality and imagination going for them. That is nothing new, either.

I don't buy the "the well is dry, so of course the present composer cannot be expected to do more than nab what others have already written" rationalization, either.  There's plenty of fresh water in the well, if the composer has wit (and, in some cases, will) enough to find it.

I'm old fashioned:  I find it much more satisfying to do my own work 

[Karl Henning]

An interesting perspective from a fellow composer, obliquely touching on whether the well is dry:

"... there is a natural flow of music everywhere and always, ubiquitous and yet priceless, like water. Anyone can tap into it, if they are alert to it. And though we can't trap it or own it, we can float on it and let it carry us away."