Newsletter
of the Southeastern Composers’ League
November 1999 Volume 24, Number 5
The completely updated and visually pleasing member directory is enclosed. If your information is incorrect…please contact Terry Vosbein with the correct information. Corrections and changes will be printed in upcoming issues of Music Now.
Time is running out for
contributions to the musical literature of the twentieth-century. Less than a
month remains for you to add another opus to the century’s collected
works.
Of course, those of you who
believe life doesn’t begin until one’s first birthday have an additional year.
But however you view it, a historic era is about to come to a close. As trivial
as a new century is to nature, to the written record of history these arbitrary
dividing lines take on significance.
Actually, I have a solution
to the “when does the new millennium begin” problem. Let’s just celebrate YBWAT
instead: Years Beginning With A Two. There can be no arguing that
issue.
And it’s been even longer
since the last time a year began with a two. We had a new millennium only…a mere
millennium ago. The last year beginning with a two was the year
299!
So however you view things,
from eyes wide open to rose colored contacts, write those notes…the clock is
ticking…last note composed this year wins the
prize.
Post season awards to look forward to will include: most notes written in a decade, fewest notes written taking the longest time to perform, and of course best on-bass percentage.
Eddie Bass reports that you
can look forward to a varied program at the 2000 SCL Forum at UNC-Greensboro,
April 9-11. Composers who have submitted works will be hearing from the
selection committee around the end of December.
Please take a moment to
inspect the mailing label of this Music Now. The number in parenthesis
following your name is the year that your dues is paid through. A (99) after
your name means that you are paid through the end of 1999 (which is soon). Dues
should be received by the first day of each year. See the application form
included with this issue for information on dues and
membership.
Note from editor: I can always use more information for this section.
I know our members are active. please share the good news with the rest of
us.
Terry Vosbein’s The Dharma Bums, a trio for trombone, timpani and electric bass, was recently performed by Tom Lundberg, John Beck and Wiley Porter at Washington and Lee University. Also on the program was the premiere of Diggin’ With Dave for trombone and bass, with Tom Lundberg on trombone and the composer on bass.
I
recently responded to my local public radio’s request for money with the
following letter. I thought I would share it with you, as this seems to be a
frightening trend, especially in smaller markets such as the one I live
in.
Dear program
manager:
Recently I received a letter
from you requesting funds for the station. In it you emphasized the
entertainment and enjoyment that your station has to offer. I was shocked to see
just how off-track the thinking at public broadcasting has become. Your station
(or “our” station as you keep reminding me) is pursuing the wrong E’s.
Enlightenment and education NOT entertainment and enjoyment should be the goal
of public broadcasting.
You have become a commercial
radio station with all of the trimmings. I realize federal funding has been
dramatically reduced. And I realize that you must “sell” yourself to the
listener more than ever. But keep mindful of the product that you are selling:
enlightenment. And enlightenment is not always accompanied by functional
harmonies played by pretty strings.
Music should stretch the
listeners and invite them to think. It should not be a Muzak™ soundtrack to
one’s life. Music is an interactive art form…it requires the participation of an
active listener.
If all you feed your
listeners is a steady diet of the same music, which contains minimum diversity of melody,
harmony, rhythm, form and emotional content, then you are helping to
kill our art. Music has grown in the past two hundred years, yet there is very
little evidence of it on your air waves. If you don’t expose this music to
listeners you are hastening its demise.
“Contemporary” compositions
recently heard on your station include Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony and
Copland’s Appalachian Spring.
These are fine works, but as examples of the most progressive sounds on your
airwaves it is appalling. Generally only short works, or single movements from
larger works are heard. Vocal music is almost completely absent. Composers
regularly overlooked include Stravinsky, Bartók and Shostakovich, not to mention
Varčse, Boulez and Messiaen.
And it is not just new music
that is absent from your programming. The majority of the works heard on your
station are from the period covering roughly Mozart through Chopin. Virtually no
Baroque and even less early music is to be heard. It seems that the goal of your
programming is to find music that is pleasant, not too loud, too soft, too slow,
too long or too demanding.
And it is not enough to
designate an hour a week as “New Music Time” or “Renaissance Roundup,” as some
stations have done, usually putting them very late at night or early on Sunday
morning. By segregating this music from the rest of the programming you send a
bad message A listener should hear new and old mixed together, on equal
footing.
Consider the consequences of
your actions. Consider your contribution to the dumbing of America. Consider the
positive impact you could be having on the future of what we all love so much by
following the initial premise of public broadcasting: 1) present that which is
rewarding, yet non-commercial, and 2) present thought-provoking art without
regard to sponsor pressure. Consider this. Please.
Yours
sincerely,
Terry
Vosbein
Application
for New and Renewal Memberships
Membership in the Southeastern Composers League is open to all composers residing in the southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) who have demonstrated a seriousness of purpose and basic competence in scoring for orchestra or chamber ensemble.
Associate membership is open to any non-composer or institution interested in the objectives of the League. Student Composer Membership is open to all undergraduate or graduate students who are located in the Southeast or who are studying with an SCL Member Composer. Associate and Student Composer members may participate in most of the League’s activities.
O Composer — $30.00
O Associate: — $20.00
O Student: — $10.00
Name __________________________________
Address _________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Phone __________________________________
E-Mail __________________________________
For new members only:
Professional position (if any) ___________________
Recommending member ______________________
For student composer only:
School: __________________________________
Instructor: _______________________________
Please make your check payable to Southeastern Composers’ League and send it along with the above application it to:
Leonard Ball, Treasurer
Southeastern Composers’ League
175 Windfall Drive
Winterville, GA 30683
MUSIC
NOW
Terry Vosbein, Editor
Department of Music
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450
Nonprofit
Organization
Lexington, VA
Address
Service Requested
Mark Francis, President
179 Twin Lakes Road
Natchitoches, LA 71457
Donna Kelly Eastman, Vice-President
6812 Dina Leigh Court
Springfield, VA 22153
Richard Montalto, Secretary
113 Joy Springs
Road
Columbus, MS 39701
Leonard Ball, Treasurer
175 Windfall Drive
Music Now is published four times a year, in January, May, September and November by the Southestern Composers’ League and is distributed to all members, associate members and student members.
The deadline for all materials is the first of the month of publication. News of members must be submitted in the form of a brief article. Reviews, lists and programs will not be accepted. Submissions may be sent by email, diskette or hardcopy. Send all information to:
Terry Vosbein, Editor
Department of Music
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450
fax: 540/463-8104