Posted: Jun 02, 2012 11:33 pm
orpheus wrote:Shrunk wrote:orpheus wrote:Foreign Bodies, composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. E-P is an old friend, and I think the world of him. But he's also irritatingly talented.
Part of a vanishing breed that once was common in the musical world: The composer/conductor equally accomplished in both fields. Boulez is the only other one I can think of still around.
E-P and I both studied with the same teacher - Jorma Panula - who insisted that his students try to do everything: compose, conduct, play, arrange... of course Esa-Pekka is unusually talented. But I think Panula was right: it makes one a more well-rounded musician. And the activities cross-fertilize one another. By conducting you learn what is and is not practical to write for the orchestra. And by composing you learn "from the inside" why other composers made the choices they did.
My teacher pushes such a method as well. I had previously studied piano and neglected all else, but now I am taking theory, history, organ and voice alongside piano and it's really a much more enriching and I dare say a more enjoyable experience.