SO… what’s in a note anyway?
07 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Colton Lytle
Currently listening to an odd combination of The Mars Volta, Hans Zimmer, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Frank Zappa. What’s interesting, of course, is seeking out the common elements and ideas between them…
In other recent musical curiosities… is there music containing any inherent story or narrative? I’m curious as to opinions for several reasons. I found myself contemplating Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the movie Air Force One. It fits seamlessly into the movie, and there certainly is nothing like hearing the brass section blast out the main motive in the scoring the first time the plane is seen on the runway. By the end of the movie, the music takes on a life of its own, especially after the roller-coaster throughout the movie. Yet, if you watch the movie and then put on the soundtrack looping the theme, by the fifth or sixth time the magic and emotion has worn away. Hence, the discussion of music requiring something else to be associated with it or not. As Chris Braig, the leader of the Mini Big Band said to me one day, “Does this piano know whether this “A” (plays note) is Mozart or John Coltrane?”
Anywho, I’ve only been back for a few weeks and I’ve already played three concerts and getting ready to start rehearsals for another, a Webster University Symphony Orchestra concert (along with the choirs) on the 21st of February at Manchester United Methodist Church. We’re playing Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony and Karl Jenkins The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace. Hope to see you in the audience for that one, and as always, the link to the performance calendar on the right of the page will keep you up to date on all music department events.
-Colton
