Books Read:

 Song and Wind, Brian Fredericksen

 Deep In A Dream: Chet’s Biography
 Miles Davis Autobiography
 Clark Terry Autobigraphy
 Bernstein: Infinite Variety
 His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra, Kitty Kelly
 Books by Kurt Vonnegut-
o Bagombo
o Hocus Pocus
o Slaughterhouse Five
o Cat's Cradle
o God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater
 Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
 Paul Hindemith Biography, by Geoffrey Skelton
o “We must be grateful that with our art we have been placed halfway between
science and religion, enjoying equally the advantages of exactitude in thinking—so
far as the technical aspects of music are concerned—and of the unlimited world of
faith.”
o “People who play music together cannot be enemies—at least not while the music
lasts.”
o “Perfection [in composition] is the assimilation of intent and realization.”
o “Recognition of human excellence in its highest form, knowledge of the path that
leads to it, the necessary done with dutifulness and driven to that point of
perfection where it outgrows all necessity—this knowledge is the most precious
inheritance given to us with Bach’s music…To be resolved to seek the same road to
perfection more than that no once can do. He may proceed some stumbling paces,
or fate may permit him to press far ahead…We have beheld the summit of musical
greatness. This summit is, as we know, unattainable to us, but since we have beheld
it we must not lose sight of it. It must always serve us as a supreme beacon. Like all
other artistic issues this summit is a symbol, a symbol for everything noble towards
which we strive with the better part of our being.”
o Steps of composition as stated by Hindemith:
1) Plan a piece: instrumentation, who is to perform it, where it will be
performed, how big a hall, how long the piece, slow or fast.
 2) Decide how the piece is going to be: idiomatic use of instruments and
melody, formal considerations, how you will approach the climax/where it
will fall in the form, etc.
3) Now, free invention may begin. Write themes, as many as 20-50, until you
find that they fall in to groups, and that some of them are better than others,
So pick the ones most suited for your purpose and your instrument. “I don’t
often begin at the beginning.”
 What to Listen for in Music, Copland
o Inspiration then perspiration
 Spontaneous inspiration (Schubert)
 Constructive composers (Beethoven)
 Traditionalist (Palestrina, Bach)
 Pioneering/experimental composer (Berlioz, Debussy, Varese)
o Rank of trance/creative conception
 Conceiving a totality
 an atmosphere
 a theme (developing)
 a tune (non-developing)
 Harmonic bits/figurations, instrumentations, etc.
o Find the essential nature of the conceived material (the Germinal Idea)
 What sound medium fits it best? (genre: symphony, song, string quartet, etc;
instrumentations.)
 Elongation: composer often finds that themes need to be elongated to more
clearly define its character
 Possible metamorphoses of the themes
o Then, find other ideas that seem to go with the original one. Usually play a
subsidiary role
o Next, find how to get between the ideas (Bridge material)
 There should be no possible chance of confusing bridge material with
Germinal Idea
 Piece must have a beginning, a middle, and an end
 The form must bear “the long line”: throughout the work, continuity
and flow are essential
o 4 Element of Music (in order)
 Rhythm: Physical motion, primal emotion
 Melody: mental emotion; audience should have emotional response
 Has essential notes/skeletal frame that can be deduced from line
 All music must reinforce the LONG LINE.
  Harmony: Most sophisticated musical element
 Single line harmony until ~800 AD
 Organum: Parallel movement; only 4ths, 5ths, and 8ves permissible in
perpetually parallel motion
 Descant (French origin): Two independent, though homorhyhtmic,
lines no longer restrained to purely parallel movement, though still
only 4ths, 5ths, and 8ves were permissible.
 Faux Bourdon (False bass, attributed to the English): Previously
forbidden 3rds & 6ths added
 Ideal is a balance between consonance and dissonance
 Tone Color (timbre), or combinations or colors/timbres (texture)
 Form: “Form can only be the gradual growth of a living organism from
whatever premise the composer starts.
 “The form of every genuine piece of music is unique.”
 Independence AND Dependence by the composer to historical
musical forms are both involved.
 Form must also reinforce the LONG LINE.
 The Principle of Repetition is used in music to provide formal balance.
o 5 Types of Repetition:
 Exact repetition
 sectional/symmetrical repetition
 Binary and Ternary forms; Rondo; Free
Sectional Arrangement
 repetition by variation
 Basso ostinato; Passacaglia; Chaconne; T & V
 Repetition through fugal development
 Fugue; Concerto Grosso; Chorale Prelude;
Motets and Madrigals
 Repetition through development
 Sonata form (first movement form)
 (Non-repetition)

Books To Read/Get:

-Barenboim: “music quickens time”

-Schuller: “The Compleat Conductor”

-Solti: biography

-Walther - Music & Music-Making

-Ross - The Rest Is Noise

-Metah - The Score of My Life

-Marsalis: Moving to Higher Ground

-Norman Smith: March Music Notes

-Scott: Conductor’s Repertory of Chamber Music

-Winther: Annotated Guide to Wind Chamber Music

-Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Instruments

-Teaching Music through Performance in Band (series, Renshaw)

-Conductors Anthology, volume II. The Instrumentalist Company. Analyses, Conducting,

Musicianship, Repertoire, and Interviews