Re: Re: What are your favorite marches to play?


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Posted by Rick Denney on November 06, 2001 at 11:35:28:

In Reply to: Re: What are your favorite marches to play? posted by Steve Marcus on November 05, 2001 at 13:27:45:

Funny about that "derivative" description leveled like an accusation at John Williams: What's so great about not being at all derivative, and is it even possible?

Bach was derivative of Palestrina, Haydn and Mozart borrowed from Bach, and Beethoven borrowed from Haydn. Berlioz, Brahms, and Wagner all proudly proclaim that they are derivative of Beethoven. Wagner thought that Beethoven's Ninth was the pinnacle of symphonic composition. Liszt, Strauss (Richard), and Mahler all borrowed from Berlioz, and so did the Russians. Prokofiev and Shostakovich borrowed not only from their Russian forebears like Glazunov, Glinka, and Mussorgsky, but also from Brahms and Liszt. Vaughan Williams borrowed from Ravel (despite that the latter was younger), and even more from the English Renaissance (before England was consumed by Handel, who, by the way, also borrowed from Palestrina), and from people most folks have never heard of, like Stanford. Holst also borrowed from Stanford, and Hubert Parry, and Elgar, and Berlioz.

Which brings us to Williams. Much of the Star Wars soundrack is reminiscent of Holst. Fine by me: I like Holst and he didn't compose enough music to satisfy my appetite.

With all this borrowing going on, it's amazing that there's anything left to create. Yet every one of the borrowers still managed to put his own stamp on what he borrowed, even Williams. His music sounds to me more like his music than, say, Mendelsohn's music sounds like Mendelsohn.

So, why do we insist on using the term "derivative" in the pejorative sense? Can we think of any composer who is not derivative? Even Cage was derivative of the Loudoun County Waste Collection truck driving down my street, or so it sounds to me.

Rick "thinking of musical derivation as vectors rather than as chains" Denney


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