Titles and Program Notes: Lies
My good friend David MacDonald wrote on his blog about a piece of his that recently received its premiere. Dave was faced with providing some program notes for the audience. Dave claims that he doesn’t think of his music (or any music for that matter) in programmatic ways. In the comments I said this:
What I absolutely DO NOT WANT is for the composer to lie to me. If your piece isn’t about an escalator, then don’t make me think about one. If your piece IS about the hills of WV, then tell me so I can think about WV. Otherwise, call it by its Opus number or something so I am not distracted.
Dave and I jokingly banter this point back and forth, but my point is solid. Even if was was a musical illiterate I would not want to be misled regarding the composers intentions. I do not mind speculating about a composer’s intentions. In fact, I prefer it. The great Robert Frost once wrote:
O Star (the fairest one in sight), We grant your loftiness the right To some obscurity of cloud – It will not do to say of night, Since dark is what brings out your light. Robert Frost: Choose Something Like a Star, 1947.
Give me something to think about further than putting the puzzle pieces together regarding how your work resembles racing cars or drunken sailors. Make me think about “why” and “what” not just “how”. Be obscure. It’s totally cool. I didn’t (not) buy a ticket to read your program notes or clever titles. I came to hear your music. I came to listen and think about what I heard. Tell me, using musical devices, what your piece is about. For the sake of everything that is good about the art we make, do not lie to me.
There's 1 Comment So Far
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:28 PM
You callin’ me a liar? I didn’t say that the piece was written to depict a person “Falling Up the Down Escalator.” However, when I hear it, it kind of makes me think of something like that. I want the title to be somehow engaging. “Quartet for Saxophones” is not. You may not like it, but the title is a part of the piece for me.
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