http dmitri tymoczko com THEORY AND COMPOSITION Dmitri

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com THEORY AND COMPOSITION Dmitri Tymoczko Princeton University dmitri@princeton. edu

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com INTRODUCTION Bigand, et. al. “On Listening To Atonal Variants Of Two Piano Sonatas By Beethoven, ” Music Perception 26: 3 (2009), 223 -234.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FIRST POINT • Theory is unnecessary. – We can make music out of force, gesture, energy, trajectory. – Penderecki, Xenakis, Varese, Ligeti, early Schoenberg • From 1500 -1900 music theory was obsessed with rules and composers were mostly obedient: – Rules about harmony – Rules of counterpoint

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com AMAZING DIGRESSION • In 1600, Monteverdi imagined a new and free music in which nonharmonic tones could not be “reduced” to harmonic tones. • He was attacked by Artusi, a spokesman for theoretical

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com AMAZING DIGRESSION • Historians say that Monteverdi won the debate by having his music accepted. • But in the grand scheme of things Artusi was the winner: later composers were less free than Monteverdi with nonharmonic tones.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FIRST POINT • The big realization of twentieth-century music is that rules were not essential. – Many musicians and theorists have shied away from this realization. • They have tried for find structure in music where structure is not the point. • So, what is theory good for?

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com SECOND POINT • Four uses of theory: 1. Some musicians have felt there is something missing from the music of pure gesture 2. Being a composer involves writing a lot of notes. • Theory can help you make choices quicker. 3. Theory can lead you to music you might not otherwise have been able to imagine. 4. Theory can give you a reason to value your material.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com BEETHOVEN REDUX

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com STRAVINSKY

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com STRAVINSKY An amazing twodimensional coherence!

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FOR ME • For me the primary use of theory is to reinforce my belief that different musical styles are related. – Branches of the same tree • So much music is idiomatic – A matter of repeating familiar patterns – By understanding music more deeply I feel I can free myself from those patterns and learn to “modulate” between different kinds of music.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FOOLS AND ANGELS

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com THIRD POINT: CHOOSING NOTES

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FOURTH POINT • In the modern world, there is no line between processes or algorithms, on the one hand, and improvisation and spontaneity on the other. • This is because algorithms can be made interactive.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FIFTH POINT • At first, young composers work very hard to avoid incoherence in their music. • The problem is, this sometimes leads them to avoid the unexpected. • The challenge in writing music is to create surprise without incoherence.

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com FIFTH POINT “Music is a logical deduction from absurd premises. ”

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com SIXTH POINT • Theory, done right, should not constrain your compositional imagination. – It should open your mind to new possibilities. • Music as a kind of play. – Improvising – Digital delay and other effects – “Sampling” – Natural selection

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com THE THOUSAND FACES OF FORM • Commissioned by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony • Video by Nathan Selikoff

http: //dmitri. tymoczko. com Thank you!