Simoncic Lecture

12069Directions:
Simoncic Lecture Week 4
Rules for success:
1. Always, always, always, include the name of a piece of music that is being discussed or referenced, the name of a video being used, and its presenter or performing group, or no credit will be given for your answer.
2. Researching using outside sources and plagiarizing: Searching for answers from sources other than Mindtap, Simoncic lectures, videos, or assigned youtube videos will not be accepted. Outside sources are often dated or often only partially accurate. Plagiarizing using AI or another student’s work or an outside source will be handled according to the NU policy found in the Syllabus. With the new Artificial Intelligence available, cheating has become a more common practice. I will keep a close eye on the answers submitted by students. Use your mind not the mind of a machine.

Instructions
Instructions
Lecture Week 4: 155 possible points: The new and true due date is Sat: 8/26 but please do not wait until the last minute to complete this one.
Part I: Watch this short Simoncic video and include some points of interest.
Melodic devices : (10 pt.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/ybaalu8w5ifpd2w/Week%203%20many%20theory%20devices.mp4?dl=0
Part II: Did you know that only about 5% of all composers ever have their symphonic music played in public if ever? Please read the 8 reasons from part II then choose 4 of the 8 and write a brief response for each of the 4. (20 pt.)
Some reasons:
1 Composers write for very small ensembles such as a string quartet or woodwind quintets because they can save enough money to pay the musicians, pay for the advertisement, and perhaps even the small concert hall and the reception to follow.
2 A symphony audience is no different or better than a pops audience attending a live concert? People hope to hear the same few familiar pieces of music. A symphony audience only knows what they know, and that is usually very little. I seldom attend live symphony concerts unless they are premiering a new work and not always the same few pieces by Austrian and German composers. Even then, it’s usually the same pieces by the dead composers. Orchestras survive by catering to the audience. Fast food chains do far better than a local mom-pop restaurant specializing in more flavorful dishes.
3. If the composer is fortunate to be a full-time music teacher at a college, then maybe their music might be played by the college orchestra for a limited audience.
4. There are normally only three works (compositions) played during a symphony concert. The first half of the concert often begins with a short audience teaser followed by a concerto for a soloinstrument and orchestra. The second half of the concert is usually a longer 30-minute single work such as a Beethoven symphony.
5. Then there is the money factor: The orchestra conductor is either paid for each concert and rehearsal or is a full-time conductor. Unless it’s a large city such as New York, LA. Or San Francisco, a full-time conductor might make 60K per year. A 120-member professional orchestra receives union wages. Multiply that by four rehearsals and two concerts for each concert and it runs into tens of thousands of dollars per concert. If there is a concerto soloist then add at least 5K to 10K for that person alone. Now for the overhead: Symphony office management costs including health benefits, advertisement costs, rehearsal hall costs, concert hall costs, ushers, security, stage hand costs, and other costs. This is one reason that there is little money left for a living composer.

6. Medium size cities that might have a professional orchestra may only schedule six concerts per year. Larger cities with a better budget will schedule more concerts. Ticket sales cover about 30% of the costs. Donations and grants cover the rest.
That doesn’t leave very much room for the living composers. That’s why any composer lucky enough to be granted a performance will be happy and thrilled just to have that opportunity.
7. On a personal note: I wrote my first orchestral pieces at age 12. My older sister was a hospital nurse and happened to taking care of a music professor. She mentioned that I wrote orchestral music. He asked her to bring the written score. The school orchestra performed my orchestral pieces. My sister never mentioned my age otherwise they would not even have been looked at. Since 1957 to the present God has looked kindly on my composing career. Many of my orchestral works have received performances in the USA, Latin America, and Europe. My feeling is that I am simply a conduit for a much higher power working through me. It is my duty to fulfill the wonderful gift that has been given to me.
8. Please look at the music program below. Enlarge it and look at the composers’ names in the lower right-hand corner. It lists the three composers for that performance: Piazzola, Gardel, and your teacher Simoncic. The first two are dead, I’m still breathing. My payment is $00.00. It’s simply an honor for the concerto to be played in Croatia.
I hope that this has given everyone an opportunity to see why it is next to impossible for a living composer’s music to be played by a symphony orchestra.
Part III: Six points of information are provided. Read them then choose 3 from the 6 to write your thoughts about the information. Keep it rather brief but with substance. (15 pt.)
1. Why don’t orchestras in the USA play more music written by American composers no matter gender, race, ethnicity, or nationality?
I have always blamed it on America University and their small-mindedness. Latin American orchestras play music by their dead and living composers as do orchestras around the world. We are catching up very slowly. One group that is receiving recognition and performances far overdue is African American composers. Rather than being performed because their music has always been brilliant, it’s due to “political correctness”. In academic circles, those preaching the loudest about inclusion are finally beginning to practice that which they preach.
2. Why are and were so many young composers dropping out of universities? Too many universities were hiring composition teachers with impressive degrees that had never written any true large orchestral works or even had a sufficient repertoire of smaller works. These professors were forcing students to compose in an academic style using the dodecaphonic or serialism system. At best, it’s dull and at worst it’s hard to tell the difference between a good or bad composition. It was a safe place for those with higher degrees and much less talent to write in a style that was strictly mathematical and academic. For me, it became a money maker: I tutor PhDs in the art of orchestration. Major symphony orchestras shy away from playing academic music. Academic composers often present it as “intellectual” music, but at best, it leaves an audience empty.
3. No college education in music: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc….None of these composers would be qualified to teach at any level of education in today’s academic formulas.
4. Were there any rich composers? Yes! American composer, Charles Ives, early 20thcentury: But his wealth came from his business in the Insurance Industry, and not his music.
Beethoven did not make a living from his publications until the last few years of his life and only because his publisher supplied him with better than 10% royalties from Beethoven’s published music. Beethoven lost his hearing about 25 years before his death so he could no longer teach, conduct or perform for his income. He continued to compose some of his greatest music until his death. His publishers provided him with enough money to keep living and composing. He was a single man with very few garments to wear so money was spent for food and wine. He became a recluse due to his deafness.
5. Mozart was buried in a paupers grave shared by society’s other very poor people.

6. Are there classical music composers that make enough money to live from their compositions?Yes, if you can support a family on $5 thousand dollars a year from your music. As I mentioned, Ives was wealthy because of his business. Borodin from 19th-century Russia was a professional chemist and a medical doctor. Russian composer, Rimsky-Korsakov was a military tactician for extra income. American composer, Getty, from the wealthy J Paul Getty inherited hundreds of millions and can pay for his music to be played by an orchestra.
Part IV: This section requires some listening. The first two videos are brief. Watch them and comment on some important facts and information: (20 pt.)
FYI: Composers create the music, and conductors lead the group playing or singing the composers music.
1. 5 Black composers in 5 minutes Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXwDj17l80E&t=253s

2. 5 Black composers in 5 minutes Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch/4-QSc2_vXaA

The next video is very interesting historically: Watch it and write a brief response on what you thought were the most vital parts.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBjxuNHhka8&list=RDgOvQFI7sZs8&index=4 Let’s take a look at yet another brilliant black composer from the 18th-century classical period during the time of Haydn and very early Mozart. This man actually was somewhat privileged at least for a short time. Answer this: What did you learn about this man, his achievements, and his music? Joseph Boulogne, Le Chevalier de St. George: (So much for the “old white guys” theory!)

Part V: You will be asked at the end of Part V to comment on stereotyping and fallacies: This is a common comment from some former students: “Young people are not interested in classical music”. My response to them: In the USA alone, there are many youth orchestras throughout the country. Middle schools and high schools often have a youth orchestra. Community colleges often have chamber orchestras and sometimes a full orchestra. Hundreds of colleges and universities with a music program have one or even two orchestras. Then there is the Suzuki violin program that also forms children’s orchestras. That said; let’s look at some children’s orchestras not in the USA. (30 pt.)

2.
1. Youtube Title: Orquesta Nacional Infantil Venezuela https://www.youtube.com/watch/XMOaTvWTu7whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOaTvWTu7w
2. Youtube Title: Orchestra Sinfonica National Infantil de Venezuela Ouverture Gugliemmo Tell https://www.youtube.com/watch/v2vkMGdSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-v2vkMGdSA
3. Youtube Title: Orquesta Sinfonica Metropolitava Maria Jose Delgado Venezuela https://www.youtube.com/watch/Yo1Q7Bi9Q8U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1Q7Bi9Q8U
3. And another brilliant woman composer: Gabriela Ortiz: Antropolis 2019: She is a brilliant composer that has written many works and received numerous performances, especially in South America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWEmYUPK04
Answer this: How were the normal stereotypes fallacies broken by the above videos? Are you willing to challenge others outside this class when they make ignorant statements concerning any of the information?

Answer this as well: We could go on and on but time does not permit. The big question I have is this: Why is there such a lack of awareness and even promotion of living composers in the USA?

Part VI: This one requires a written response from each student.
Read this entire section: What a composer needs to know before writing a new music work. (15 pt.)
One question that is asked of me is, “Where does your inspiration come from”? My answer: What is an inspiration but a few seconds of an idea followed by a great deal of work? It can come from any place at any time. Is there a time when your ideas run dry? NO!
But this is what a composer must ask and know before writing a commissioned work. A commissioned work is something that a performing group asks a composer to write.
Is it for a specific event?
What is the caliber of the performing group?
What is the age in case it’s a youth orchestra? Why? A typical young people’s school orchestra at the 7 to 12-year-old level can only play so loud and so soft. It’s actually quite a narrow range. The music must be written accordingly. Lung capacity and tone production are short and narrow etc….
What if it’s a senior citizen orchestra? Same issues as with a very young orchestra:
Next: Before beginning work, the composer needs to know how long the piece should be:
Next: How much rehearsal time will be given to the music: this helps determine if the work should be basic and easy to play, or if there are many fine players and the music can rise to the occasion.
Very important is the size of the orchestra and the instrumentals that will be available for that specific concert. I always hope that they include a large section of woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
There are often two and maybe three percussion players for the concert. I have used as many as 25 different percussion instruments in one piece, divided by three performers. A literal “road map” is designed so that all parts are covered and that there is time to go from one instrument to another, often times changing drum mallets and drum sticks. I could go on and on discussing all the pitfalls of writing for an orchestra, but that, I save for the professional composers that I tutor.
This is the information a composer needs to know before a note is written:
When writing a full score, I write all instrumental parts at the same time for every beat and every measure. To write only one part all the way through from beginning to end would be similar to writing only the main character of a play that has over a dozen characters from front to end without any consideration of the other character parts or the actual storyline.
Answer this: What were some of the most surprising parts of Part VI?

Due on Aug 26, 2023 11:59 PM
Available on Aug 21, 2023 12:01 AM. Access restricted before availability starts.
Available until Aug 27, 2023 11:59 PM. Access restricted after availability ends.

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