Programs this season

Q & A with the Music Director

ABOUT MUSICA NOVA

I am not a blogger. I have never been someome who has felt the need to let people know my opinion about things, nor do I feel any need to express myself except through music. But over the course of the last 4 seasons, certain questions have come up repeatedly, and I thought that it would be useful for those people who wanted to know more about MusicaNova to have a place where the basic questions that seem to come up are answered. So I have revised the “About MusicaNova” section of the website to address these questions. I think in this way people will understand more about us than through the usual generic piece about the group or a vague mission statement.

How is MusicaNova different from other orchestras?

There are two types of Symphony Orchestras; those that form their identity from the place where they are located- the “Phoenix Symphony”- and those that form their identity from their mission, like the “Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique” formed by John Eliot Gardiner. Obviously, although the MusicaNova Orchestra is based in Scottsdale and serves that community it is defined not by geography but mission. And the mission is unique; it is to search out and play neglected music of the highest caliber.

The mission of the MusicaNova Orchestra--to play wonderful less-familiar music--has been taken up to some degree by other orchestras, but I know of none in which it is the defining mission of the group.

How did you get the idea for MusicaNova?

All my life I have felt that my greatest thrill is hearing something that is wonderful, new and unique. I remember as a child hearing Raymond Lewenthal's recording of the Alkan Symphonie for Solo Piano. Here was great music that sounded like nothing I had ever heard before.

Since then I have been on a quixotic quest for great neglected music. It helps that I am a musical omnivore who loves to hear as much different music as I can (although I have no interest in or knowledge of popular music or jazz).

I began as a pianist, and I did a lot of new and neglected music then. I loved sitting at the piano and reading through unfamiliar music. When I started conducting (it was pretty much an accident; I never had any ambition to be a conductor) it seemed natural to learn neglected scores; besides, by learning scores that had never been played, I forced myself to learn how to score read properly. With recordings around, it would have been too easy to learn things by listening to records, which is of limited usefulness in learning your craft.

When I hear something new and wonderful I want to share it with everyone so they can get the same thrill of discovery that I experience. It is not that I don't want to do familiar repertoire; I would love to do Tchaikovsky 5 with the players of MNO, and it makes me sad to think we probably will not get to do it together given the mission of the orchestra; but on the other hand, we got to do Atterberg 3, and that is a thrill you won't get anywhere except with MNO!

So it made sense to me that when I became the Music Director of an orchestra, I would do great neglected music for the public, because I had so much fun doing it for myself.

How do you choose the music that MusicaNova will perform?

Some time ago, one of my orchestra members said to me “So, what do you do? Do you burn the midnight oil looking through obscure scores to find ones for us to play?”

He seemed surprised that I immediately answered “yes”! In fact, that is what I do, along with reading through and listening to the many scores sent to me by hopeful composers and publishers. I also use the ridiculous amount of time I spend in a car listening to CDs of music I do not know. Sometimes I “multi-task” while doing something trivial around the house to hear music that is new to me. I listen to literally hundreds of new pieces of music every year.

Of these, the vast majority are disappointing; I dismiss about 80% of the music in the first five minutes of listening. Among scores, if there are obvious amateurisms in the scoring or presentation, I will tend to not bother looking further. (sometimes to my detriment. I think I have missed some interesting music this way). Of the remaining 20%, probably 10% get a thorough listen and then a pretty immediate thumbs down. The remaining 10% are ones that had something that intrigued me.

In general, I am looking for music that makes an impression the first time I hear it. I figure that the people who will be hearing it in the audience will be hearing it for the first time, so if it does not make an immediate impact on me, why should I think that the audience will feel differently?

Another thing I am looking for is originality. Sometimes I will hear the work of a composer who writes well, but sounds so much like a certain major figure that I tend to feel no compulsion to do their music. As an example, there are several good Shostakovich imitators, of whom the best is probably Weinberg (his name is sometimes spelled Vainberg). But Shostakovich does it better, so why bother?

A third thing I am looking for is that they “deliver the goods” Many composers have really good material, but their music lacks that “killer instinct” to make a really strong complete piece. I don't know how often I have been really excited by the early stages of a work, only to feel disappointment at what the composer did with the material.

All the great composers have this killer instinct, and it is one of their distinguishing features. In fact the difference between the good and the great is not about the material itself but what you do with the material. The great ones know how to use the material to get maximum impact from it.

This “killer instinct” quality is so rare that I will sometimes program material that I think is wonderful but lacks this quality. The Hans Gál Symphony we just did was such a piece. But the material itself has to be exceptional for me to consider putting this concern aside.

Another thing I am looking for is that I would prefer to champion composers who are outside of the corridors of power of classical music. Among contemporary American composers, I feel little need to champion Lowell Liebermann, Jennifer Higdon, Augusta Read Thomas, John Adams or the like because they are getting plenty of performances and they went to all the right schools and they know how to promote their stuff. I would rather promote Patrick Jonathan, who writes wonderful music but is not well connected. (and he is just as good a composer as the ones mentioned above. He has some nice excerpts of MusicaNova doing his Second Symphony on his website www.patrickjonathan.com)

Related to that, I will also look to the local scene and try to do music that other orchestras in Arizona have not done. I will even consider doing music by famous composers that has been neglected locally, just to help give greater depth to the local music scene.

Obviously, there are times where, for various reasons, I do pieces that do not hold to these standards, But I certainly aim to do the best neglected music I can find, whenever possible.

Some of you might be surprised to learn that I think that, in general, the verdict of history on the quality of music is correct. That said, great music does slip through the cracks. And once it does, it takes work to revive it, because you need to overcome prejudices, bad performances, and the like. I think that someday we will recognize that Richard Arnell's 3^rd Symphony is one of the greatest Symphonies of the 20^th century, but it will take time and a series of committed performances and recordings before that happens.

The truth is that I very rarely find something that makes me go “wow!”But when I do, it makes all the time spent searching through mediocre and derivative drivel worth it.

The “wow” for the 07/08 season is Boris Tchaikovsky, This is a truly original voice, and his late music absolutely blew me away. I heard it and said, without hesitation, “we have to do this!”

But there were a number of “almosts” as well. I might get to these eventually, and if we had a bigger concert season I certainly would. I would recommend that everyone who reads this give these works a listen: they include the 4^th and 5^th Symphonies of William Alwyn, the 4^th and 6^th Symphonies of Erkki Melartin and the Japanese Spring by Ludwig Irgens-Jensen. Terrific stuff, all of it, but lacking that killer instinct I mentioned.

Hints for the aspiring composer when you send me your music (or agent acting on the composer's behalf)

Have a nice-looking score that is in either Finale or Sibelius format. Detailed dynamics and articulations are a sign of care and make it much easier for me to figure out what the piece should sound like. I really appreciate those things.

If your piece is difficult, make sure you know what you are doing. Most of the things I see from composers that are difficult to play-even things from famous composers- are difficult because the composers did not know what they were doing. Most of the time, these things can be fixed simply if the composer is willing to be reasonable. If an orchestra like MusicaNova -or any professional orchestra- has trouble playing your piece, it is probably your fault. The musicians in my experience, will do anything to sound good. If they are complaining, it is not because they are lazy but because the composer wrote something unreasonable. Glazunov said “it should be easy to play and it should sound beautiful the first time”, and he was absolutely right. Follow that advice!

A midi or sampled computer recording of the work is fine to use as a wrong note checker, but if you send it to me I probably won't listen to it. I find them distracting and misleading.

A real performance of your work is nice to hear, but not essential. I will listen to a recording without a score, but I will never make a final judgment about a piece based on a recording. I should tell you that most of the time the recording is a hindrance to my appreciation of the score, because most performances are not going to be as good as the ideal performance I can create in my head from looking at a score.

I really don't care about your background, who you studied with, your honors etc. So you don't have to send me any of that information. If you do send a CV, I will not read it until I have already listened to and formed an opinion about your piece anyway.

If the piece is descriptive, I do want to know what it is about. And I do enjoy hearing what your musical inspirations were. It gives me a context into which to put your piece. But don't bother telling me that it is “accessible”. Everyone says that , it doesn't mean anything, and it certainly is not a goal worth aspiring to.

Why do you divide the orchestra with 1st and 2nd violins across the front of the stage?

Basically, because it sounds better. Until about1950, this was the division expected by composers, and there are countless passages in the literature that only make sense if the firsts and seconds are divided like this. Players are not fond of this arrangement; they prefer to have the cellos or violas on the other side, because it is easier for ensemble purposes. But the difference in sound is so pronounced that I feel no guilt in doing the slightly more difficult set-up. I also am a very firm believer that first and second violins should be made up of players of equal strength, and in a set-up like this it is imperative that they are.

What is your philosophy of String Seating?

I think it is essential to a good string sound to spread your best players through the section. As we all know, it is harder to play at the back of the section that in the front, so why do orchestras put their worst players in the back? Your weaker players should be sitting next to a stronger player and they should be hidden somewhere in the middle, not at the back. Spreading good players out makes the whole section sound better.

I must admit there is so much resistance to this from players that I have been less firm in following it than I should be, but insofar as I have done so, I have felt it was the right thing to do musically.

What is the role of the Fine Arts String Orchestra and MusicaNova Baroque Orchestra in the fabric of MusicaNova as a whole?

A bit of history; MusicaNova has been around since 2003, but the Fine Arts String Orchestra was started in 1979, and every Thursday morning between September and May since then they have been rehearsing. I became their Music Director in 2001. When I started MusicaNova in 2003, I thought that for publicity and financial reasons it made sense to form a loose alliance of sorts between the groups that I was conducting. I could consolidate some administrative functions and could use the two groups in a mutually beneficial way. There is limited crossover of personnel between the groups and although there are professional players in FASO, the group also takes on community players. The goals of a group like this are different than the goals of a professional orchestra like the MusicaNova Orchestra. In simple terms, a community group's main responsibility is to the players, while a professional group's main responsibility is to the public (within the context of the mission of the group). As such, I try to make the music that FASO plays entertaining for the audience, but the main thing is that it be fun for and worthwhile to the players. Although it is fun to do some new and neglected music with FASO, it is not its raison d'etre, as it is with MNO.

The Baroque Orchestra was formed in 2004 along the same model as FASO, with perhaps a stronger educational component as we study aspects of Baroque and Classical style. It was a chance to look at some repertoire that I could not do with MNO, and a opportunity to rehearse for community players who could not meet in the morning.

I think we need to treat our community players with respect, and I really admire those professional players we have who are willing to share the stage with the community players. The community players are the backbone of our classical music audience, and the opportunity to play in a good community group allows folks who love music and love to play a chance to continue to make music throughout their lives. I am proud that MusicaNova supports both professional and community music making. I think all major orchestras should do so as well.

It is a shame that there is so much support- on a corporate and government grant level- for “youth music” programs, but so little for adult community players. As a result we have all these kids who take lessons, learn to play and then drop it as adults. I think it is a community's-and an orchestras-responsibility to make sure that “life-long” learning and performing opportunities are available for all people who love to play good music.

Do you have additional questions for our music director? You can email and he'll be happy to answer your questions.