Musical composition

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Scherzo in A flat (Borodin)

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical
piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice
composition are called composers.

Contents

1 Musical
compositions

2 Composition as musical
form

3 Composing
music

4 Compositional
instrumentation

5 Arranging

6 Legal status

6.1 US
Copyrights

6.2 UK

7 See also

8 References

9 External
links

[edit]
Musical compositions

A piece of music exists in the form of a composition in musical notation or as
a single acoustic event (a live
performance or recorded track). If composed before being performed, music can be
performed from memory, through written musical notation, or
through a combination of both. Compositions comprise musical elements, which
vary widely from person to person and between cultures. Improvisation is
the act of composing during the performance, assembling musical elements
spontaneously.

Piece is a, "general, non-technical term [that began to be] applied
mainly to instrumental compositions from the 17th century onwards....other than
when they are taken individually 'piece' and its equivalents are rarely used of
movements in sonatas or symphonies....composers have used all these terms [in
their different languages] frequently in compound forms [e.g.
Clavierstück]....In vocal music...the term is most frequently used for operatic
ensembles..."[1]

[edit]
Composition as musical
form

Main article: Musical form

In discussing the structure or organization of a musical work, the
composition of that work is generally called its musical form. These
techniques draw a parallel to art's formal
elements. Sometimes, the entire form of a piece is through-composed,
meaning that each part is different, with no repetition of sections; other forms
include strophic, rondo, verse-chorus, or other
parts. Some pieces are composed around a set scale, where the
compositional technique might be considered the usage of a particular scale.
Others are composed during performance (see improvisation), where a
variety of techniques are also sometimes used.Some are used from particular
songs which are familiar.

Important in tonal musical
composition is the scale for the notes used, including the
mode and tonic note. In music using
twelve tone
techniques, the tone row
is even more comprehensive a factor than a scale. Similarly, music of the Middle East employs
compositions that are rigidly based on a specific mode (maqam)
often within improvisational contexts, as does
Indian classical
music in both the Hindustani
and the Carnatic systems, gamelans of Java and Bali, and much music in Africa.

[edit]
Composing music

People who practice composition are called composers. Compositional
techniques are the methods used to create music. Useful skills in
composition include writing musical notation, music theory, instrumentation,
and handling musical ensembles (orchestration). Other
skills include extended techniques such as improvisation, musical montage,
preparing instruments, using non-traditional instruments, and other methods of
sound production.

[edit]
Compositional
instrumentation

Main articles: Instrumentation
(music) and Arrangement
(music)

The task of adapting a composition for musical instruments/ensembles, called
arranging or orchestrating, may be
undertaken by the composer or separately by an arranger based on the
composer's core composition. A composition may have multiple arrangements based
on such factors as intended audience type and breadth, musical genre or
stylistic treatment, recorded or live performance considerations, available
musicians and instruments, commercial goals and economic constraints.

Based on such factors, composers or arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation
of the original work. Today, the contemporary composer
can virtually write for almost any combination of instruments. Some common group
settings include music for Full Orchestra (consisting of just
about every instrument group), Wind Ensemble (or Concert Band, which
consists of larger sections and greater diversity of wind, brass and percussion
instruments than are usually found in the orchestra), or a chamber group
(a small number of instruments, but at least two). The composer may also choose
to write for only one instrument, in which case this is called a solo.

Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also
decide to write for voice (including choral works, operas, and musicals) or percussion
instruments or electronic
instruments. Alternatively, as is the case with musique concrète,
the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the creation of
music, such as typewriters, sirens, and so forth.

In Elizabeth
Swados' Listening Out Loud, she explains how a composer must know the
full capabilities of each instrument and how they must complement each other,
not compete. She gives an example of how in an earlier composition of hers, she
had the tuba above the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out, thus
giving it no purpose in the composition. Each instrument chosen to be in a piece
must have a reason for being there that adds to what the composer is trying to
convey within the work

[edit]
Arranging

Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment
upon it such as in mash-ups and various
contemporary classical works. It may be thought of as analysis.[2]

[edit]
Legal status

The examples and perspective in this section may
not represent a worldwide
view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk
page. (December 2010)

[edit]
US Copyrights

Copyrights afford the owner of a work control over and exclusive rights to
the work. Even though the first US copyright laws did not include musical
compositions, they were added as part of the Copyright Act of
1831.

In the US, the copyright symbol is ©, or the letter c inside a circle. The
first year the work was published follows the copyright symbol, and the name of
the copyright holder thereafter. A music copyright is often notated as ℗, or a
letter P (instead of the letter C) inside a circle. This is because this type of
copyright also covers phonorecords, which are physical objects, such as CDs,
where the works is contained.

[edit]
UK

Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 defines a musical work to mean a work
consisting of music exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken
or performed with the music.[3]

[edit]
See also

BCM
Classification

Developing
variation

Dickinson
classification

MIDI composition

Music
manuscript

Music
publishing

Musical form

Songwriting

[edit]
References

^
Tilmouth, Michael. 1980. "Piece". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, sixth edition, 20 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie, Vol. 14: 735.
London: Macmillan Publishers; New York: Grove's Dictionaires. ISBN
1-56159-174-2.

^
BaileyShea, Matt (2007) or reworking. "Mignon: A New Recipe for Analysis and Recomposition",
Music Theory Online Volume 13, Number 4, December 2007.

^
Sheet music was held to be covered by the term "book" in the Statute of Anne:
see Bach v. Longman [1777] but that merely conferred a right to print
and reprint the music

[edit]
External links

Composition Today News, competitions, interviews and other
resources for composers.

Internet Concert Project: Album for the Young Student New
Music, an online performance and documentary feature from Bloomingdale
School of Music (January 2010)

A Beginner's Guide to Composing, an online feature from Bloomingdale
School of Music (February 2008)

Gems of
compositional wisdom

A Practical Guide to Musical Composition

ComposersNewPencil - Information, articles and music
composition resources.

How to
compose music

How to compose Music (Wikihow)

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Categories: Musical
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