Hi

[Richard Pinnell]

Hi.

New here. I'm another middle class white male in my late forties I'm afraid. Oxfordshire, UK.

I have spent most of my life deeply involved with music, as a listener, critic/writer, label owner, concert organiser, but primarily my interests have been around experimental music, the avant garde, improvisation and contemporary composition that departs from the classical lineage. Whilst I have listened casually to "classical" music for a long time, it has only been over the past couple of years that I have sought to spend the majority of my time exploring the music of the past in more detail.

[Que]

From one white middle class man in his late forties to another: welcome!   

Q

[Henk]

Welcome, Richard. Hope you will like this place!

[Camphy]

Welcome, Richard!

[nodogen]

Welcome from the Midlands, although my profile seems shy about displaying that. White, male, 50s, working class but aspiring to no class. 😬

[Hollywood]

Howdy Richard. Greetings from Vienna, Austria. Welcome to the forum. 

[mc ukrneal]

Welcome and enjoy!

[aligreto]

Welcome aboard 

[Florestan]

New here. I'm another middle class white male in my late forties I'm afraid.

I'm middle class, white male, in my early forties --- and not afraid in the least. Welcome aboard, mate! 

[Richard Pinnell]

I'm middle class, white male, in my early forties --- and not afraid in the least.

Ah but life seems so easy in your early forties... just wait a few years and the fear starts creeping in

Thanks for the welcome everybody.

[Mirror Image]

Welcome aboard, Richard. Who are some of your favorite composers?

[Richard Pinnell]

Now there's a question.....

Well, from about the mid eighties to the turn of the millennium I listened to virtually no composed music at all. I listened to massive amounts of music, but none of it composed.

As far as contemporary composers go, I'd say Jürg Frey, Antoine Beuger, Michael Pisaro, Radu Malfatti, Eva-Maria Houben, Jakob Ullmann are making extremely interesting music right now.

As far as the 20thC is concerned I'm a massive fan of Luigi Nono and Morton Feldman. I will also hoover up anything new from Lachenmann or new recordings of Earle Brown, Cage or Cardew.

For older music though, well, I'm currently absorbing things from all over, either on disc or through a lot of concert-going. Favourites have always been Beethoven, Mahler and Bruckner though I'm finding new delights weekly.

[vandermolen]

Greetings from me too. Hope you enjoy your visit here.

[bhodges]

Welcome, Richard, and a fascinating list of composers, most of whom are unfamiliar to me. I'm also a big fan of Feldman and Nono. In any case, enjoy your time here!

--Bruce

[Florestan]

Well, from about the mid eighties to the turn of the millennium I listened to virtually no composed music at all. I listened to massive amounts of music, but none of it composed.

I really don't get it. What do you mean by "not composed"? The only not composed music I can think of is music playing exclusively in one's head. Any music played in public is "composed" in one form or another, for what is free improvisation if not "composing on the spot"? 

[Richard Pinnell]

Yeah, I've spent three decades discussing such semantics....

To make conversation easier and to delineate simply between the non-idiomatic form of free improvisation I have been involved with and all other music, it is common to describe the latter as composed and the former as non-composed. Sure, a composition is created in the moment, but generally it didn't exist two seconds earlier and will never exist again outside of any recording, so it is easier to describe it as non-composed. Certainly it is extremely unusual for a musician involved in non-idiomatic free improvisation to consider themselves a composer.