Questions tagged [composition]
For questions about the creation of new music and the techniques used to do so.
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Is there a compositional term for an introductory variation on a larger theme?
I’ve noticed that in some music spaces, specifically entertainment and gaming, composers rely heavily on character or main themes as recurring motifs. One such instance I’ve heard recently involves ...
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Are there varying levels of ASCAP's "plus" awards?
ASCAP offers an annual monetary award call the ASCAPlus award to its composer members whose music does not generally get included in its sampling for popular music royalties. These composers include ...
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Did Stravinsky ever work backwards?
I've always been intrigued by this little passage in Stravinsky's "Fireworks" (op. 4). It seems to me to be many things all at once, each masterfully handled. It's a nifty little canon, a ...
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Why does Schoenberg think of "'semi-contrapuntal treatment' of the accompaniment" as a way of adapting a motive's melody to changes in its harmony?
Schoenberg says that the melody of a motive may be adapted to changes in the harmony "[b]y transposition," "[b]y addition of passing harmonies," or "[b]y 'semi-contrapuntal' ...
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Trombone choir and French Horn choir
I’m interested in combining two instrumental groups: a trombone choir and a French horn choir.
There seems to be a lot of compositions for either trombone choir, or for French horn choir, but not for ...
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Can I use fast tremolo or triads on the third register?
When I compose music I always tend to avoid writing fast tremolo and chords in the low register as it can get really muddy, but where is the boundary after which I should avoid tremolos and chords?
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How to improve the harmonic cohesion of my canon?
So this canon is what ends the Presto section of my Springtime Springs piece. As it is now, I only get 2 parallel fifths and no parallel octaves in the entire canon, which I am fine with, since I am ...
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Was Bernstein's interpretation of Mahler's 9th Symphony correct?
During his fifth Norton lecture at Harvard University, Leonard Bernstein famously speculated that Mahler's ninth symphony was symbolically prophesying his own death, the death of tonality (the advent ...
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Are there any recorded cases of two composers working independently composing the same thing?
I heard the Miley Cyrus song Party in the U.S.A. on the radio yesterday (never heard it before) and I heard a vocal phrase that sounded very familiar. I couldn't place it for a while, but then it came ...
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Is deliberate voice crossing a common method for part writing?
In basic harmony exercises voice crossing is avoided.
But, in actual string music, well I suppose all instrument genres, voice crossing is fairly common, and by my reckoning it seems to be a method ...
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Why do some songs change while fading out? What is it called?
I noticed that some songs repeat a theme and then fade out at the end, but before completely fading out the song "changes". For example, the singer sings different words (that don't appear ...
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Why are Tarantellas usually in a minor key?
Why are Tarantellas usually written in a minor key? Is this an unwritten convention?
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What authors have tried to compare a wide variety of styles, specifically with regards to orchestration?
I have never found a guide to orchestration which systematically discusses differences in the theory behind the orchestration/composition choices with regards to different typical stylistic genres, ...
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Why such a difference in balance adding 1 instrument?
I am writing a canon for piano quintet and I notice I'm getting a lot of balance issues.
When it starts with 2 measures of piano solo, of course there are no such issues. I introduce new variations ...
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Why is the contrabass clarinet treated as a "loud" instrument in compositions?
I was playing some contrabass clarinet parts and wondered why there are so many passages where every single bass instrument is playing, minus the contrabass clarinet. The bass clarinet, tuba, and ...
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