“When I’m still imagining the music in my mind before making notes is the most problematic. I try to imagine the music first: that’s very precious. The first idea includes the tempi, the orchestration, which are not difficult to imagine. But to reduce the possibilities for harmonic use and pitches, that is the most time consuming before starting the actual composition.”
Tag: 10.07.15
Brain Science Suggests We Can Learn while We’re Asleep. Uh-oh.
“Almost a century ago, a fad for sleep-learning swept the industrialised world, ending only after neuroscientists determined it was physiologically impossible. Yet today, a growing body of research suggests they were wrong. Sleep-learning appears to be heading for a revival, on a far more solid scientific basis than its earlier incarnation.”
Arthur Miller: ‘My Legacy? Some Good Parts For Actors’
“This is not said speciously. I look at the plays that I’ve done, that is those plays that continue to have their life, and if you look hard enough you’re going to find that they’ve got pretty good parts for actors. … Actors and directors have got to decide to do these plays. They’re not deciding because the play has quote great moral importance. Even literary importance. They’re deciding because they’ve got a hell of an idea of how to do this part.”
The Church Of Scientology May Not Be Reacting Super Well To ‘Going Clear’
“As the film has won accolades and taken on a trajectory toward Oscar consideration, the animosity has ramped up, and there has been increased aggression at public events where Gibney and the subjects of Going Clear have spoken.”
When Pen Names Take On A Life Of Their Own
“The literary appeal of the pseudonym and of the reclusive genius tend to go hand in hand.”
What (If Anything) Should Composers Make Of Today’s Music Criticism?
“The unprecedented accessibility and apparent indelibility of reviews on the internet necessitate, I believe, a change in the way they are written and read. Foremost in my mind here are not the tender sensibilities of composers or even the damage a gratuitously negative review can do to a career, but rather the integrity and relevance of music criticism itself.”
How Does Creativity Help Solve Problems?
“At this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival, we asked a group of people who work in media, design, and the arts about how the creative process can lend itself to unlocking solutions. ‘Creativity is a problem-solving practice,’ says Anne Libera, director of comedy studies at Second City. ‘You have to risk, you have to fail – that’s how you know where the edge is.’ Other panelists include Tim Brown, Bran Ferren, JR, Maurice Ashley, Lil Buck, Kelly Leonard, and Jane Chu.” (video)
Huntington Theatre And Boston University Sever Relationship
“After 33 years, Boston University and the Huntington Theatre Company are parting ways, and the university is putting the BU Theatre up for sale, effective immediately. For the highly regarded Huntington, which just two years ago won a Tony Award for regional theater, the dissolution of the partnership with BU ushers in a period of uncertainty.”
Can A Good Poster Still Change The Zeitgeist? Definitely
“From Ben Shahn’s anti-H-Bomb design to the Guerrilla Girls’ campaign against gender inequality in art museums, posters have a long history of engaging and informing people through a mixture of artistry, wit, and economy. It would be easy to assume that posters have lost some of their impact in a hyper-connected landscape. But in many ways, the rise of social media has given protest and advocacy posters a bigger audience than ever before.”
Matthew Bourne: Traditional Ballet Is Evolving Into Something New
“There seems to be this cross-fertilisation going on that’s never happened before. The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet, our two biggest ballet companies, are commissioning contemporary choreographers more and more to work with them. Things are getting blurred in a way and and the dancers are having to be very versatile to take on those different movements.”