SB defended his dissertation today. His aesthetic includes a musical score on a screen that includes well thought out symbols cast in motion graphics that represent musical improvisational activity. The symbol we focused on was the ourobouro, or the snake eating its tail. Musically this activity seemed to imply cyclical action, or in musical terms, […]
Yesterday was a stressful day. Why? Because in my mind, there were so many things that needed to get done but simply not enough hours in the day, nor enough energy to get them all done even if there were.
I watched my body as it tensed up, and all other physical manifestations of stress […]
I was puzzled to see the name “Scarlatti” on my calendar this morning for an eleven o’clock. My assistant, who can be a mongoose when it comes to scaring away people that I don’t need to see, said it was impossible to deny this man. She said he was a man with a strong Italian […]
My annual trip up to Lake Arrowhead was a pleasant one. I left early on Saturday morning and just flew up the mountain. It is always fun to spend time with my committee buddies deliberating over proposals for curricular improvement.
Lake Arrowhead seems bone dry, ie, a water shortage. The front page confirmed my suspicion […]
Dear Sister Alex Shapiro has tagged me in a game of e-tag with the following meme:
Oy––
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.
Here is my quote, taken from Aaron A. Fox’s REAL COUNTRY:
Hoppy’s conclusion powerfully […]
Today I go to Malibu (May’s Landing) again for a retreat with colleagues from the Departments of Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Music to discuss curricular ideas of a core offering that could work for all three departments.
The three departments were at war within one big department when I arrived in 1983 and finally divorced in 1989 […]
Roger Bourland
Roger Bourland (b. Dec. 13, 1952, Evanston, Illinois) received his education from the University of Wisconsin/Madison (B.Mus),the New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and Harvard University (A.M., Ph.D.). His teachers have included Leon Kirchner, Gunther Schuller, Donald Martino, John Harbison, and Randall Thompson. He received the Koussevitzky Prize in Composition at Tanglewood, the John […]
I am starting to catch up with my life. My 3000 email deficit from 2 weeks ago is down to one unread email as of this morning. I couldn’t sleep the other night, worrying that I still had 678 emails to answer, so I stayed up late last night and got through them all.
Lake Tahoe […]
Almost looks like music notation.
[Photo by Roger Bourland]
A fascinating poll on the Norman Lear Center website about the musical tastes of conservatives and liberals. I would be curious to redo this poll when all the baby boomers are senior citizens.
There are many interesting conclusions one can draw from this information and composers would do well to think long and hard about these […]
When friends tell me they are starting a blog they invariably ask me for advice (sometimes not). One piece of advice I have always given is to try to blog every day. That being said, don’t blog if it feels forced or you are emotionally in a thorny place.
Because of that habit, I am confident […]
Tim Miller met Alistair McCartney around the same time I met Daniel. The four of us met in Palm Springs in fall 1994. I have always been a big fan of Tim Miller, and it has been thrilling to get to know Alistair. We’re going to a book launch at Highways on April 27 for […]
People ask me who my favorite film composer is. These days I say Dario Marianelli and Alexandre Desplat, but if I had to take this question seriously, I’d have to say that John Williams is right there at the top. Too many people try to accuse him of just spitting out Star Wars music over […]
Thanks to Richard Garrin for bringing this bizarre find to the blog. You might want to line up a few shots of vodka and sing along.
The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for its humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir. Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys […]
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