In 1976, America was all excited about being 200 years old and many of its major orchestras participated in consortium commissioned works. One of those works that I loved was called “Final Alice” by David Del Tredici. In fact it wasn’t only I that loved the work, the piece got standing ovations no matter […]
I’ll never forget when Henry Mancini told us that composing is very much like being a plumber. “It’s a job, I get hired to write music for a film and I do my job.” The vision of the composer on a mountain top conversing with the gods is a cool one, but not at all […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Yesterday, composer for The Simpsons, Alf Clausen visited our school and focused on the broadway music that he has featured on that show. I only popped my head in from time to time as my chairmanly duties pulled me away, but the Mancini studio was packed — smelled like a basketball gym in there. Most […]
I was in the mood for a little Conlon Nancarrow and found this fun 30″ video called “Everytime i prepare myself a cup of tea with milk, i can’t help spilling it.”
Before I moved to California, my teacher, Leon Kirchner, introduced me to Leonard Rosenman. I remember several trips out to his beautiful Malibu home. I brought my music, and we played each other music for three hours, and chain-smoked.
Leonard taught a few times for us at UCLA. And before my time, he taught music […]
Graham Streeter brought over a CD of miscellaneous music by a gentle German composer. He made we watch an interview with him, one that I do not recommend watching — just listen to the music.
Musicians know of John Cage’s adaptation of the piano by putting paper clips, paper, metal stuff, screws and such in the […]
After two years of disappointing “winners,” the Academy awarded a well deserved Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score to the Italian composer, Dario Marianelli for his score to ATONEMENT. Not since Alexandre Desplat have I heard such a terrific new voice in film music. Watch the film and listen carefully to […]
Subscribe in a reader