1. THEORY AND COMPOSITION
THEORY AND COMPOSITION
Dmitri Tymoczko
Princeton University 1

2. INTRODUCTION http://dmitri.tymoczko.com
Bigand, et. al. “On Listening To Atonal Variants Of Two Piano Sonatas By Beethoven,” Music Perception 26:3 (2009),

3. FIRST POINT Theory is unnecessary.
FIRST POINT
Theory is unnecessary.
We can make music out of force, gesture, energy, trajectory.
Penderecki, Xenakis, Varese, Ligeti, early Schoenberg
From music theory was obsessed with rules and composers were mostly obedient:
Rules about harmony
Rules of counterpoint

4.
AMAZING DIGRESSION
In 1600, Monteverdi imagined a new and free music in which nonharmonic tones could not be “reduced” to harmonic tones.
He was attacked by Artusi, a spokesman for theoretical orthodoxy.

5.
AMAZING DIGRESSION
Historians say that Monteverdi won the debate by having his music accepted.
But in the grand scheme of things Artusi was the winner: later composers were less free than Monteverdi with nonharmonic tones.

6.
FIRST POINT
The big realization of twentieth-century music is that rules were not essential.
Many musicians and theorists have shied away from this realization.
They have tried for find structure in music where structure is not the point.
So, what is theory good for?

7. SECOND POINT Four uses of theory:
SECOND POINT
Four uses of theory:
Some musicians have felt there is something missing from the music of pure gesture
Being a composer involves writing a lot of notes.
Theory can help you make choices quicker.
Theory can lead you to music you might not otherwise have been able to imagine.
Theory can give you a reason to value your material.

8.
BEETHOVEN REDUX

9.
STRAVINSKY

10. STRAVINSKY http://dmitri.tymoczko.com
An amazing two-dimensional coherence!

11. So much music is idiomatic
FOR ME
For me the primary use of theory is to reinforce my belief that different musical styles are related.
Branches of the same tree
So much music is idiomatic
A matter of repeating familiar patterns
By understanding music more deeply I feel I can free myself from those patterns and learn to “modulate” between different kinds of music.

12.
FOOLS AND ANGELS

13. THIRD POINT: CHOOSING NOTES
THIRD POINT: CHOOSING NOTES

14.
FOURTH POINT
In the modern world, there is no line between processes or algorithms, on the one hand, and improvisation and spontaneity on the other.
This is because algorithms can be made interactive.
A BORING SYNTAX!
Yosef Goldenberg helped
----- Meeting Notes (2/11/13 13:01) -----
ALLOWABLE AND not ALLOWABLE

15.
FIFTH POINT
At first, young composers work very hard to avoid incoherence in their music.
The problem is, this sometimes leads them to avoid the unexpected.
The challenge in writing music is to create surprise without incoherence.

16. “Music is a logical deduction from absurd premises.”
FIFTH POINT
“Music is a logical deduction from absurd premises.”

17.
SIXTH POINT
Theory, done right, should not constrain your compositional imagination.
It should open your mind to new possibilities.
Music as a kind of play.
Improvising
Digital delay and other effects
“Sampling”
Natural selection

18. THE THOUSAND FACES OF FORM
THE THOUSAND FACES OF FORM
Commissioned by the Kitchener- Waterloo Symphony
Video by Nathan Selikoff

19.
Thank you!