Things I've Learned, with rock music professor Paul Mathews
N-L: Which do you consider yourself first: a composer or professor?
PM: I am a professor who composes incidentally.
N-L: What is the most challenging aspect of your work in either field?
PM: I would say the work I do when I'm actually working is fine. It's when you have to take it to other people. Publishers are just so hard to work with. Or when you're composing and you have to take it to the performers. Taking my vision to other people is a difficult aspect of what I do.
N-L: How have you dealt with that?
PM: I tend to work with people with whom I already have a relationship with. I like to people with people who I already know, already know what the situation is going to be. It's when you feel with people you don't know, you run into difficulties in communication.
N-L: What composer would you say your work most mirrors?
PM: I would like the answer to be Anton Webern. Whether or not that is true is for others to decide.
N-L: Is there a reason why you have enjoyed teaching Beethoven string quartets over the years?
PM: I don't think there is any other literature that so maps out the composer's whole career. You can just tell from any one of his quartets where he is and how it's going to play out in his symphonies and in his piano sonatas. It's just a fascinating portrait of the composer.
N-L: What advice do you have for aspiring composers and/or musicians?
PM: Study, study, study. I really think the intellectual side of music pursuits is too often downplayed and you can learn a lot by studying scores in an atmosphere where you can share your insights with other students, guided by a professor. It is integral to creating new music as a composer and as a musician.
N-L: What new acts in the classical or popular spheres today do you find the most promising?
PM: Among performers, the Alarm Will Sound, which is based in New York. We actually have one of the members, Courtney Orlando, who works at Peabody. She's amazing. She's a violinist and teaches ear training. They're very promising, in part because of their ability to crossover. They're constantly striving to do new things, and not just to broaden the audience, which sounds kind of cheap, but to just challenge themselves and take themselves to places beyond any musical ensemble.
PM: I am a professor who composes incidentally.
N-L: What is the most challenging aspect of your work in either field?
PM: I would say the work I do when I'm actually working is fine. It's when you have to take it to other people. Publishers are just so hard to work with. Or when you're composing and you have to take it to the performers. Taking my vision to other people is a difficult aspect of what I do.
N-L: How have you dealt with that?
PM: I tend to work with people with whom I already have a relationship with. I like to people with people who I already know, already know what the situation is going to be. It's when you feel with people you don't know, you run into difficulties in communication.
N-L: What composer would you say your work most mirrors?
PM: I would like the answer to be Anton Webern. Whether or not that is true is for others to decide.
N-L: Is there a reason why you have enjoyed teaching Beethoven string quartets over the years?
PM: I don't think there is any other literature that so maps out the composer's whole career. You can just tell from any one of his quartets where he is and how it's going to play out in his symphonies and in his piano sonatas. It's just a fascinating portrait of the composer.
N-L: What advice do you have for aspiring composers and/or musicians?
PM: Study, study, study. I really think the intellectual side of music pursuits is too often downplayed and you can learn a lot by studying scores in an atmosphere where you can share your insights with other students, guided by a professor. It is integral to creating new music as a composer and as a musician.
N-L: What new acts in the classical or popular spheres today do you find the most promising?
PM: Among performers, the Alarm Will Sound, which is based in New York. We actually have one of the members, Courtney Orlando, who works at Peabody. She's amazing. She's a violinist and teaches ear training. They're very promising, in part because of their ability to crossover. They're constantly striving to do new things, and not just to broaden the audience, which sounds kind of cheap, but to just challenge themselves and take themselves to places beyond any musical ensemble.
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