Wes wrote:

>Furthermore, I find it a shame when composers strive more or are known
>more for their creativity than their actual music.  what you end up with
>is a name in a history book and not one seat filled at a concert!

I find it disappointing that you try to separate creativity and "actual
music" as if they are separate entities that a composer puts together in a
musical stew.  I, and I think most composers, search for a voice that they
are comfortable with.  I don't that any composer compromises their music
with creativity.  Creativity goes hand in hand with the craft of writing
music.  There are many people who could study a Mozart sonata or a Bach
chorale and then robotically compose something of similar quality, yet few
people would take them seriously when you could have the real McCoy.

But also realize that I don't think most composers are "trying" or feel
forced to write something completely bizarre in order to get their name in
a history book.  I'd at least like to think that John Cage wrote his music
and did his experiments because he had a true passion for the nature of
sound, not because he wanted to stand out as an eccentric.

Perhaps a full concert of Messiaen will send some people running, but his
creativity and the "actual music" are inseparable.  And if I want to fill
a concert hall I'll start writing pop music.  I would rather see 20 people
at a concert who truly care about music than 3,000 that show up for social
reasons.

Kyle Major
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