KillingClassicalMusic

It remains common today for composers of art music (“classical,” of course, is the wrong term), to have high minded ideas about what does and does not constitute serious music. They often suggest that music is enough on its own, that it needs no supplemental material or background, and that to believe otherwise is to brand oneself a musical philistine. There are those, however, that question these assumptions. One of them is Travis Branam.

At his blog, An Authentic Cadence, Travis raises just this issue and argues that composers need to be storytellers, suggesting that we could look to pop culture as a source for material around which we can tell stories through music.

Allow me to sum up his writing on the subject in the form of a question: Can a serious composer write a program piece that tells the story of Harry Potter? I think the answer to this question is a resounding Yes, but that answer rests on two fundamental assumptions I have about what serious music is, as well as a strongly held belief about what music is generally and how audiences are integral to it.

First, to be considered “serious,” music written today need not function solely at the edges, let alone outside, of tonality. It may be that a reason program music went out of vogue after the early Twentieth Century was the temporary loss of the language of tonality from the composer’s lexicon. Tonality seems to be a large part of the language we rely upon to cogently translate into music a story we have decided to set as a program work. This is not a rejection of atonality. Rather, it merely recognizes the fact that that which lies within the tonal realm is just as much on the composer’s pallet as atonal material is. Both have their place and, I would argue, both are necessary in order to truly tell a story that is relevant in today’s world. This position is certainly becoming less and less contentious each day.

Second, all serious art acts as a reflection on the society from which it comes. This manifests itself in many ways, but the general principal is, for me, one of the distinguishing factors between creative output that is art and that which is not art.  This is the same in other art forms as it is in music. (For an obvious example of this distinction, think of fashion design. Clearly some clothing is art at its highest level, while other clothing is simply functional.)  When it is “serious,” art reflects the society from which it comes in some way. As a result, the subject matter available for serious program music is huge, and something like Harry Potter – far from being a bad choice – could be a perfect choice for reflecting a particular society.

In addition to those two assumptions about what constitutes serious art music, I think this topic requires that I add some thoughts on what I think music (any music) is. Simply put, music is sound in time. And I mean that quite literally. Sound is a physical phenomenon. It does not exist in our heads, and it does not exist as dots on a page. Thus, a piece of music imagined and written down on a score by a composer is not music all by itself. Indeed, it does not become music until it is brought to life by performers and the all-important physical sounds – which are merely represented by the dots on the staff – are made in time. This makes audiences (i.e listeners) of paramount importance to the very existence of music – any kind of music. And with the clear and integral role audiences play, we must explore ways to help encourage their connection to our music.

As a result of this, I think a program piece that tells the story of Harry Potter is entirely possible as a piece of serious art music in this day and age.

But personally, I don’t think I would write a program piece that retells the story of Harry Potter in the language of music. Rather, instead of just retelling the story through music, I would tell a story around it. There are many possibilities. For instance, the program could be made about a child who becomes deeply engaged by the Harry Potter series. Rather than relying on J. K. Rowling’s creativity for inspiration for my own work, as a composer I would prefer to write music that reflects my experience of the Harry Potter phenomenon. I think this would achieve the same kind of audience engagement that Travis is looking when he imagines a musical retelling of the Harry Potter story. In fact, this sort of program piece might get even more audience engagement as it would tell a story to which they could much more directly relate.

Whatever a final work would look like from me or any another composer, the reality of what constitutes serious art music, and the necessity of an audience for music to exist at all, I see a resurgence of program music – even on such popular themes as Harry Potter – to be well within the possibilities for today’s composers. What do you think? Is there a reason why such a piece could not be considered serious music? Would it just be kitsch? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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