Michael Edwards: > What about the artistic issue? I am quite aware that many composers have >borrowed short (and sometimes not-so-short) snippets, even without >acknowledging >them sometimes, but in no way trying to hide them either. > ... my quote was about 3 bars and about 9 notes long, not precise, no >more prominent than any theme I might have written myself, and would have been >worked into surrounding textures as if it were a theme of my own (as for quite some years I believed it to be), ...
> I >just don't quote material, since what I compose is my own work, not someone >else's. This position I take is not a statement that I think what I can do is >better than whatever I might borrow - just a reflection of the fact that, in >composing, my business is to compose my own ideas, not use others' ideas. It is now generally believed that Schubert abandoned his 8th symphony (the "Unfinished") because of discomfort at the similarity between the theme of the third movement and that of the trio in the scherzo from Beethoven's second. He also had to be dissuaded from destroying "Die Forelle" when someone pointed out an unintended paraphrase in it of Beethoven's "Coriolan" overture. I don't think anyone here thinks the musical world is better off for his having left that symphony incomplete nor would Schubert's reputation have suffered in any way had he finished the thing. The contrary example is provided by the fine Finnish composer Uuno Klami, whose reputation took a nose-dive when the last movement of his *Sea Pictures* came out sounding suspiciously similar to Ravel's *Bolero*. The difference, it seems to me, is in the matter of obviousness and pervasiveness. If the average listener, hearing your piece, might say "oh, that's just a rewrite of X" then the project should probably be abandoned or completely rethought. But if not, not: I mean, look at John Adams, whose music often sounds like a quodlibet even though he usually doesn't quote literally--yet he is very popular and highly respected. -- Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press http://www.kallistimusic.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
