What would you say to, or ask, the composer?

[Chaszz]

If you could travel back in time and have coffee with one, or more, of your favorite composers, what would you ask or say?

I would say to Bach that in contrast to his relative obscurity as a composer in his time, his reputation had grown to one of the two or three greatest of composers in European and Western music. Try to make him feel a little better about his "vexatious" (his word) job at Leipzig. And tell him that in my time that his music was played all over the world every day. I would tell him he should somehow provide better for Anna Magdalena so she wouldn't have to live in almshouses and on the streets after he died. I would ask how he ever got any peace of mind or composed with that huge family.

[ChopinBroccoli]

Pull a dueling pistol on Scarlatti and make him admit that even he can't recognize all of his sonatas when they're played

[Mirror Image]

If I had just 20 minutes with Debussy, it would be incredible even if I was nothing more than a gushing fanboy. The problem is you can't let the composer know you're from the future and are aware of the massive influence they've had on your life. You have to pretend that you're just someone who happens to have heard a few works and you're enthusiastic about what they're writing at that moment. To be honest, I don't even know if I could keep up the charade for very long. It would be too difficult.

[jess]

I'd ask Boulez if he'd be alright with me orchestrating the rest of his Notations, but I would only ask him AFTER he has completed the 7th, so that he doesn't drop the project just then and there.

[Chaszz]

If I had just 20 minutes with Debussy, it would be incredible even if I was nothing more than a gushing fanboy. The problem is you can't let the composer know you're from the future and are aware of the massive influence they've had on your life. You have to pretend that you're just someone who happens to have heard a few works and you're enthusiastic about what they're writing at that moment. To be honest, I don't even know if I could keep up the charade for very long. It would be too difficult.

And why can't you let him know you're from the future?  Oh, he might go find and kill your grandfather?

[Mirror Image]

And why can't you let him know you're from the future?  Oh, he might go find and kill your grandfather?

Because I don't want to alter the timeline nor fill his head with any kind of thoughts that are alien to his way of life. It's called respect.

[Symphonic Addict]

A good idea.

Taking advance of the Beethoven celebrations this year, I'd say to Beethoven that his music still remains a hit like in his time, even more so. That his legacy will survive for ages, even millenniums. And, of course, I'd say thank you, Herr Beethoven for such a treasure of mentality. Seriously. Your music goes straight to my soul, heart and physical body.

In addition, I'd say this to these composers: Bach, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Reger

What the heck of you? Did you never rest or tire in awhiles to write music? I mean, so prolific, so astonishing, but it looks like they never slept. Glorious bodies? They composed music as while eating or having sex or whatever imaginable  . Freakingly crazy and genius.

[some guy]

No need to do any time travel to answer this one, only a bit of air travel, as many of my favorite composers are alive.

As for questions, well, that's usually something like "When will dinner be ready?" or "How about a pint or two down at the corner bar?"

As for the ones who have sadly passed on already, I already have had several conversations with John Cage, some of them even about music, many of them about Zen, and all of them with one of the more genial people I have ever met. Also enormously talented. (Goes without saying really.) Pauline Oliveros and I had a nice conversation about Barney Childs over the phone, once. And, speaking of whom, Barney was not impressed with my Tenney postcard rip-offs, but he still came over occasionally to listen to music and laugh and tell stories.

[Daverz]

I would tell Bruckner to get his scores under version control.

[Biffo]

I would tell Bruckner to get his scores under version control.

He did; he made fair copies of all his symphonies (up to No 8 ) in the versions he wanted and deposited them in a library. This didn't stop conductors and publishers making their own versions, this was beyond his control.

[Overtones]

I'd tell Shostakovic, Chill man, they are not going to kill you.