Yesterday afternoon, the 10th annual TSO New Creations Festival held a composer-lead panel discussion, co-presented by the Canadian Music Centre (CMC).
The event was hosted by RBC Affiliate Composer Kevin Lau, and included composers John Adams, Daniel Bjarnason, Zosha Di Castri, and Brian Current, whose works are currently being featured at this year’s New Creations Festival.
One could write at great length on the many ideas discussed yesterday afternoon, but I will touch upon some highlights that seemed to get increasingly interesting as it went on.
The interview/panel started off with an explanation by each of the composers on the genesis of their respective works being presented during the festival, and led towards a wider discussion on the general state of contemporary music composition.
John Adams seemed to have the most to say of the bunch. He recounted how he felt for composers working today, as the creative environment is much more difficult than it has ever been. He alluded to how easy it would be to live in Mozart’s time, as one could simply use the tested forms – such as a Rondo – as a framework for their musical ideas. But today, composers must not only compose works, but also invent a new musical language for each one, from which there is no pre-existing template.
Adams also confided that he believed music to be an art of emotion, but cautioned that it’s a finite resource. When Beethoven was alive, the emotional field was wide-open with emotive possibilities abound. But like our natural resources, these possibilities have become rare and difficult to find.
“I sometimes get the feeling when I’m composing, I’m more like a prospector panning for gold, and only every once in a while I’ll get the tiniest of nuggets,” Adams jests.
Brian Current also spoke eloquently about his work, likening his experience of composing to being in a plane high above the earth. To paraphrase, “At first all you see are clouds, but as the plane begins to land, features from the landscape begin to emerge – mountains, lights, trees, buildings, streets, and cars. It is only when you’re on the ground that details of a piece have become clear. It’s the job of the composer to land that plane – hopefully by the deadline”.
Zosha Di Castri contributed by recounting her experience as a young composer getting used to working with large symphony orchestras. She stated that it is par for the course to have to deal with the reality of very limited rehearsal time before a big premiere. She added that orchestras are very expensive mechanisms, and as a composer writing in the symphonic medium, one must learn to work within that reality.
Icelandic composer Daniel Bjarnason, had the final word of the afternoon panel, and included his response to a question posed by audience member and composer, Alexina Louie. The question pertained to how composers can better deal with the relatively small size of contemporary music audiences in relation to other classical music works.
Bjarnason responded that he felt one of the reasons contemporary music has such a small audience is in part due to the increased amount of competition and options for music lovers out there. He felt that a composer’s message could be diluted in a concert program of many works, filled with unfamiliar names. He suggested that the best thing for a young composer to do is to produce their own albums under their own names as a means to create a distinction for themselves. Adams nodded his head in agreement.
Special thanks to Kevin Lau for leading this fascinating discussion, and to the CMC and TSO NCF or co-presenting this event.
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The final instalment of the TSO’s tenth annual New Creations Festival is on Friday, March 7th at 7:30 p.m. This program will include John Adams’ latest orchestral work based on themes from Beethoven’s late string quartets, titled Absolute Jest for string quartet and orchestra. Vincent Ho’s City Suite will also be performed and will include Toronto’s Shauna Rolston on amplified cello. Finally, Brian Current’s Three Pieces for Orchestra will see its official World Première. Not to be missed. Details here.
Michael Vincent
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