Adam Ossin over Masterclass 2007
Welcome to the final concert of the Music in the Making course, spring 2007. The music you are about to experience is our final product, consisting of our original pieces and the performance of other composers. It is meant to represent the content of the course.
Music in the Making is not a musicology course, nor is it a composition course. Mastering our instruments or improving our singing abilities was not the aim of the course. During the semester we were given an overview of Classical Western music, starting with Bach and ending with the present. In the process our composition, singing, and playing skills were developed.
Importantly, there are no prerequisite of any sort to enter the course. This resulted in a very musically diverse group of students. Some of us were brought up with Classical music, and play instruments from a very young age. Others wanted to make some noise so they picked up a guitar and started messing around.
The point of the course, and I guess I could be wrong, was to understand what exactly Œmusic¹ is. I am not sure I have a good answer, but this course surely got me thinking. No one would argue that Beethoven¹s Bagatelle in A minor (FY®r Elise), is not music. John Cage¹s 4¹33², a musical piece consisting (only) of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence, however, is perhaps a different story. I had, and still do have some problem with calling that music, not to mention a composition. The critics seem to like Cage, and so does our teacher, but do we make music when we shut-up? Is music the difference between sound and the absence of sound? And if it is the intention that qualifies something as music, what would you say about the scratching and tormenting attempts of a beginner violin player?
During this course we heard and played music ranging from Britney Spears to Stravinsky and Bach. The sounds of a UCU morning were transformed into a musical piece utilizing us as various instruments in the process. Old papers and underpants were thrown apart and the Sanskrit scale was used, simultaneously, as both the lyrical and melodic components of a song.
Obviously there are many aspects to music, and I think that music, just like Music in the Making, does not really have, nor requires, prerequisites. There is no need to be the greatest composer of the generation or a member of the Œloudest band in the world¹ to make good music, all that is needed is to simply go for it.
Alright, enough with this quasi-academic introduction, just sit back and relax, raise your lighters and bang your heads when appropriate, and don¹t forget about the free drinks.
I hope you will enjoy the show, Adam (on behalf of HUM 261 Spring 07, represent!)
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