Comments on: Australia Under the Influence https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/ The official website of the New York-based composer Nico Muhly. Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:14:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 By: stephen duren https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37899 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:14:57 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37899 I was once accused of “Reich-aping,”…journalists “call out” influence as if it were some secret…

When writing about my painting, critics inevitably talk about the influence of Bonnard and Diebenkorn (I love their work) as if this is a bad thing. Hell, Diebenkorn loved Bonnard, and his work also shows it. Where would we be without our masters shoulders to stand upon?

I’m trying, in my work and public… life to undo this nonsense.

Good on ya mate!

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By: stephen duren https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37888 Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:04:48 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37888 …journalists “call out” influence as if it were some secret…
I’m trying, in my work to undo this nonsense.
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Good on ya mate! I’m left with mixed feelings when someone writes/talks about me in terms of Diebenkorn, or Bonnard (both of whom I love), as if my paintings were somehow weakened by their influence. Hell, Diebenkorn also loved Bonnard, and it shows in his work.

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By: Miles https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37870 Fri, 15 Jun 2012 03:05:13 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37870 “…written by people in the direct employ of the state or the church.”

That makes everyone ^but^ them “indie-classical,” no?

😛

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By: andrea https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37862 Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:18:20 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37862 Your New England place name examples are spot on. You could do a Billings-esque set of songs with them as titles.

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By: Paul McCann https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37803 Sat, 09 Jun 2012 04:31:39 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37803 Your comments about “influences” reminded me of something Roland Barthes said in an interview (when asked what influence his book ‘Critical Essays’ might have) :

“… Moreover, in general, I’m not sure what an ‘influence’ is; to my mind, what is transmitted is not ‘ideas’ but ‘languages,’ ie forms which can be filled in different fashions; that’s why the notion of *circulation* seems to me more appropriate than *influence*, books are ‘currency’ rather than ‘forces.'”

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By: Egbert Canrinus https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37753 Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:26:56 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37753 “these employees who didn’t have the time to go into the woods and commune with nature etc.”
My teachers teacher always said; don’t imagine yourself to be anything different than an office employee, getting a task in the morning wich has to be done at 5 p.m.
I never understood the idea that a composer should have to be a romantic idiot who at the sight of an ocean surf would run back to work with his heart pouring over with joy. I enjoy watching an ocean surf, but I see an ocean surf, I’m not hearing a symphony.
I find that “inspiration” lies within the musical idea I get, in the arrangement of the notes and rhythms. My own teacher says that a good musical idea will tell you it wants to be written, and also how it wants to be written. But you’ll have to be sitting at your desk. And who cares how I got that idea? Or where it came from.

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By: killian https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37745 Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:52:46 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37745 ditto grandfather!
>There’s a sense, I think, that journalists “call out” influence as if it were some secret, unspeakable sexual perversion. I’m trying, in my work and public (read: online) life to undo this nonsense. We are all wearing the cloaks of influence all the time, and we should all, as composers, proudly announce the labels on these vestments.<
Same thing for choreographers! As if it were shameful to acknowledge Mark Morris' influence on your work.

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By: Eric L https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37724 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:48:21 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37724 @Peter

Not ridiculous at all. It really is like herding cats when it comes to rehearsing orchestras, and in fact, lots of premieres of new orchestral pieces DO end up leaving much to be desired. It’s just really hard to tell for your average audience member whether or not ‘the weird thing’ in the piece was something consciously decided by the composer or just the artifact of half the brass section being late by half a bar.

The best orchestras however, usually do sound very good with the standard rep, not because they have hours and hours before each concert to rehearse, but because they’ve (both as a collective and as individual players) played those pieces many, many times under various conductors.

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By: Peter Campbell https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37681 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:27:58 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37681 “Yuzu squirt” sounds like some sort of weird sexual fetish.

I was watching one of those reality TV programmes a few weeks back (“well-celebrity becomes a conductor”) in which they said orchestras normally only get a few hours rehersal time. I thought they were exaggerating for effect; but here you are repeating the same sort of information. Difficult to believe they expect decent performances to emerge from those sorts of circumstances.

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By: Grandfather https://nicomuhly.com/news/2012/australia-under-the-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-37676 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:08:36 +0000 http://nicomuhly.com/?p=3471#comment-37676 “harmonies and their aggressors”

thank god for you.

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