Two Words: About Music is an idea. Inspired by a love of classical music
beyond the core repertoire regularly programmed in concerts and on radio,
it is intended to be an information service and a venue for discussion
covering neglected composers, their life, times, works and legacies. The
Website and electronic delivery components of the service are intended to
go live in January 2002. Meanwhile, we are interested in getting early
reaction from potential subscribers and participants and are thus asking
for your feedback in the form of a response to the following market
research questions. A brief description of the nature and format of
service is followed by a number of specific questions. Please feel free to
comment on any aspect of the proposed service, whether or not there are
questions appropriate to your particular point of view.
Format
The service will have two main components - a Web database and a regular
newsletter.
The principal information components will be housed in a relational
database on our Website and will be structured by composer. For each
composer covered there will be a detailed biographical essay, a complete
work list, detailed descriptions and commentaries on major works,
recommendations for further reading and listening, a discography (limited
to CD recordings initially) and detailed reviews of as much of the recorded
music of the composer as possible. At a later date a database of program
notes will be created for use by performance organizers, performers and
educators. There will also be a discussion center aimed at providing a
forum for subscribers and participants to provide additional information
and to discuss or review relevant concerts, publications and performance
plans. Eventually we plan to include links to festivals and programs
around the world that focus on neglected music and we are a! lso planning
an annual competition for the most illuminating and useful CD liner notes.
The newsletter will appear on a quarterly basis and each issue will cover
three or four composers in depth. Each composer will receive a profile (an
expanded version of which will later become his or her biographical essay
on the Website), an analysis of the major works forming the composer's
legacy and a series of reviews of recommended introductions to the
composer's music. Regular columns will include "Russian Revolutions" and
"American Independents", each aimed at figures in the relevant nation's
musical history.
Coverage
The guiding principle for including a composer in the database or the
newsletter will be that his or her music has been neglected (unjustly, in
our view) or is rarely programmed for performance. The choices are huge
and will necessarily reflect the tastes and interests of the contributors.
As an example, the following list contains some of the composers on whom we
are currently working in order to establish a critical mass of material for
the Website launch next year.
Kalevi Aho, Arnold Bax, Malcolm Arnold, Johann Joseph Fux, John Foulds,
John Alden Carpenter, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Alexander Glazunov, Alan
Rawsthorne, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Elliot Carter, Amy Beach, Harrison
Birtwistle, Joachim Raff, Tikhon Khrennikov, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Dominick
Argento, Ignaz Moscheles, Eugene d'Albert, Gerald Finzi, Thomas F.
Dunhill, Ludolf Nielsen, Georges Enescu, Alberic Magnard, George Whitefield
Chadwick ...
Delivery
1. Would you be more or less likely to subscribe/participate if the
newsletter were to be available in print format by mail rather than in
purely electronic form? More likely Less likely?
2. What would be your preference for the format of electronic
deliverables?
MS Word? Wordperfect? PDF? HTML? Text (RTF)?
Other (please specify)
3. Do you regard quarterly delivery of the newsletter and weekly updates
to the database as adequate, too frequent or not frequent enough?
Adequate Too frequent Not frequent enough
Content
4. Please rank on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being least important, 5 being most
important) the degree of importance you would place on the following
aspects of content of the database:
* Composer biography
* Composer worklist
* Descriptions and analyses of major works
* Reviews of recordings
* Discographies and recommended listening
* Bibliographies and recommended further reading
* Occasional essays on related musical topics (artist interviews, 'life and
times' essays, etc.)
* Program notes
* Discussion forum
* Links to composer societies, recording companies, retail outlets
Pricing
5. The proposed annual subscription for Two Words: About Music is
US$39.95 or GBP24.95 sterling (other currencies available on request).
Would this price point cause you to be likely or unlikely to subscribe?
Likely Unlikely What would you consider to be a fair price?
6. Significant discounts for multiple subscriptions are under active
consideration. For example, a local Philharmonic Society wishing to
make subscriptions available to its members would enjoy an advantageous
subscription price on a sliding scale by number of subscribers. Would
this scenario be of interest to any group of which you are a member?
Yes No Comments
7. If you were interested in subscribing, would you be more or less likely
to do so if payment was required by check or by credit card (Visa or
Mastercard)?
More likely Less likely
Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the proposed service,
including any additional components or information you would find
of interest. The most effective method of response is by e-mail to
[log in to unmask], but replies addressed by regular mail to the
address below will also receive our prompt attention.
Comments:
Thank you for your participation in this brief survey. Please indicate
whether you would like to be added to our mailing list for further
information as it becomes available.
Please add me to your list Please delete me from your list
Address/e-mail details
Two Words: About Music
107 S. WEST STREET, #169
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314, USA
+1 (703) 212-8998
[log in to unmask]
"If a literary man were to write two words about music, one of them would
be wrong." (Aaron Copland)
Tim Mahon
Alexandria, VA
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