*Blog in Progress

The world of composition is really not a world at all - its more of a universe of sorts, dotted with galaxies, empty space, and really unlimited amount of possibilities. The quest for finding life, or what I like to say, writing good music, is the job of the composer. In the universe, because it is so big and completely up to our imagination to say seek something new, the greatest discover of music is not a new element (we have a good handle on all the various elements of 'classical' music), but the real excitement is mixing the elements to see how they'll react to one another. We know about dust and various gasses interacting to make up planets of all kinds of weird natures - the same holds true to music - we know about sound, the nature of instruments, and try to keep up with the latest technology. These elements interact by the discretion of a composer.

There are hundreds and hundreds of classical composers out there all trying to write music that speaks, says something, or move a listener to a place where they forget they're actually listening to music altogether. When the audience shuts off all other senses (with the exception of hearing) and promptly falls into a state of near hypnosis, in my opinion, the music is a success. I don't know of any normal concert goer to says, "Man, I can't wait to hear a Neapolitan 6th chord" or "Oh boy, I can hear all the rules of Renaissance counterpoint being followed flawlessly" - sorry. Doesn't happen. I see listeners falling asleep, or sitting on the edge of their seat, or tilting their head (body language for zoning out and simply listening) when attending a concert. A good composer can control those reactions seamlessly.