American Composers Today

Composers, General Mission, Performance Organizations

Being an American composer means being influenced not only by the great European composers of the past, but also by jazz, musical theater, film and world musics of our own time. Such influences can contribute to an enormous range of expression. But to master that range, a composer must escape from the kind of thinking typical of the mid 20th century, in which the act of composition was seen as an experiment in rebellion against tradition, with the goal of identifying one’s self with a distinct “personal style.”

While the music of a great composer may exhibit a recognizable personality, as is the case with such masters as Bach, Wagner or Stravinsky, it is difficult to pin down that personality in purely stylistic terms. Compare the B Minor Mass with the St. Matthew Passion or with any of the Brandenburg Concerti — or compare Parsifal with Tristan or Meistersinger — or compare Le Sacre with Firebird or Symphony of Psalms. In each case the composer’s personality and mastery are clearly recognizable, but the style and technical means are quite different. In each case, the composer is able to bring to bear exactly those compositional techniques and stylistic features that create the desired result. These composers did not try to gain their place in history by identifying themselves with a limited set of experimental stylistic practices. Instead, they focused on creating meaningful musical experiences by freely drawing on whatever techniques were available.

Unfortunately, the legacy of 20th-century experimentation has been to make the music-loving public extremely wary of ALL new music. They are more interested in safe masterpieces than in experiments. The same audience that eagerly embraces new theater, movies, literature and popular music now shuns new musical experiences in the concert hall — a fact reflected in the limited repertoire of symphony orchestras and opera companies. Although the era of musical innovation for its own sake seems now to have passed away quietly, serious composers of today face not only the challenge of harnessing and mastering the broad musical language itself, but also that of reaching out and building a receptive audience for their work — a task made even more difficult by lack of opportunity to establish a meaningful rapport with that audience.

The Internet offers opportunity to reach people outside the concert hall. Like many composers today, I have taken advantage of this by placing a great deal of my life’s work on my website (at www.jackmjarrett.com), and by self-publishing my works that are not currently available through commercial publishers. Through such supplemental exposure afforded by the digital age, we hope to increase appreciation and demand for music by new American composers that will result in more aggressive promotion and concert scheduling on the part of symphony orchestras and opera companies. We must work together— as educators, administrators, musicians, composers and the listening public—, if we are to create better opportunities to enjoy the works of the many talented composers currently producing engaging and satisfying music. By doing so, we just may revitalize our many performance organizations in the process.

From Chapter 1 of Musical Composition, a Guide for Young Composers, by Jack Jarrett

115 thoughts on “American Composers Today”

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