You are on page 1of 6

Musical composition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to navigationJump to search

Scherzo in A flat by the Russian Romantic era composer Alexander Borodin


(1833�1887) About this soundPlay (help�info)

Jazz, rock and pop songwriters typically write out newly composed songs in a lead
sheet, which notates the melody, the chord progression, and the tempo or style of
the song (e.g., "slow blues").

Jazz and rock genre musicians may memorize the melodies for a new song, which means
that they only need to provide a chord chart to guide improvising musicians. About
this soundPlay (help�info)
Musical composition, or simply composition, can refer to an original piece or work
of music [1], either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece, or to
the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new
compositions are called composers. Composers of primarily songs are usually called
songwriters[2][3]; with songs, the person who writes lyrics for a song is the
lyricist. In many cultures, including Western classical music, the act of composing
typically includes the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music "score,"
which is then performed by the composer or by other instrumental musicians or
singers. In popular music and traditional music, songwriting may involve the
creation of a basic outline of the song, called the lead sheet, which sets out the
melody, lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, orchestration (choosing
the instruments of a large music ensemble such as an orchestra which will play the
different parts of music, such as the melody, accompaniment, countermelody,
bassline and so on) is typically done by the composer, but in musical theatre and
in pop music, songwriters may hire an arranger to do the orchestration. In some
cases, a pop or traditional songwriter may not use written notation at all, and
instead compose the song in their mind and then play, sing and/or record it from
memory. In jazz and popular music, notable sound recordings by influential
performers are given the weight that written or printed scores play in classical
music.

Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author,
this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which
often occurs in popular music when all of the members of a band collaborates to
write a song, or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second
person writes the lyrics, and a third person orchestrates the songs. A piece of
music can also be composed with words, images, or, since the 20th century, with
computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create
musical sounds. Examples range from 20th century avant-garde music that uses
graphic notation, to text compositions such as Karlheinz Stockhausen's Aus den
sieben Tagen, to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music
that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music, and is
associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as John
Cage, Morton Feldman, and Witold Lutoslawski. A more commonly known example of
chance-based music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze. The study of
composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice
of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough to
include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental
pieces, and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz
performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers.

Although in the 2000s, composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of


each aspect of music (harmony, melody, form, rhythm, and timbre), according to
Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1780, 2:12):
Composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of
several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is
what the Ancients called melody. The second is the rendering audible of two or more
simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is
what we call harmony, and it alone merits the name of composition.[4]

Contents
1 Terminology
1.1 Piece
2 As a musical form
2.1 Indian tradition
3 Methods
3.1 Computer methods
3.2 Structure
4 Compositional instrumentation
5 Arranging
6 Interpretation
7 Copyright and legal status
7.1 In the U.S.
7.2 In the UK
7.3 In India
8 See also
9 References
10 Sources
11 Further reading
12 External links
Terminology

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
(August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

A page from the score for a string quartet for two violins, viola and cello.
Since the invention of sound recording, a classical piece or popular song may exist
as a recording. If music is composed before being performed, music can be performed
from memory (the norm for instrumental soloists in concerto performances and
singers in opera shows and art song recitals), by reading written musical notation
(the norm in large ensembles, such as orchestras, concert bands and choirs), or
through a combination of both methods. For example, the principal cello player in
an orchestra may read most of the accompaniment parts in a symphony, where she is
playing tutti parts, but then memorize an exposed solo, in order to be able to
watch the conductor. Compositions comprise a huge variety of musical elements,
which vary widely from between genres and cultures. Popular music genres after
about 1960 make extensive use of electric and electronic instruments, such as
electric guitar and electric bass. Electric and electronic instruments are used in
contemporary classical music compositions and concerts, albeit to a lesser degree
than in popular music. Music from the Baroque music era (1600�1750), for example,
used only acoustic and mechanical instruments such as strings, brass, woodwinds,
timpani and keyboard instruments such as harpsichord and pipe organ. A 2000s-era
pop band may use electric guitar played with electronic effects through a guitar
amplifier, a digital synthesizer keyboard and electronic drums.

Piece
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. Klavierst�ck]....In vocal music...the
term is most frequently used for operatic ensembles..."[5]

As a musical form
Main article: Musical form
These techniques[clarification needed] draw parallels from visual 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, and others. 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.[citation needed]

The scale for the notes used, including the mode and tonic note, is important in
tonal musical composition. 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
system.[citation needed]

Indian tradition
In the music tradition of India there are many forms of musical composition. To
some degree this is on account of there being many musical styles prevalent in
different regions of the country, such as Hindustani music, Carnatic music, Bengali
music, and so forth. Another important influence in composition is its link with
folk music, both indigenous and also from musical culture of Arabia, Persia, and
Bengal.[6]

In the Hindustani musical tradition, Drupad (originally in Sanskrit and later


adaptations in Hindi and Braj Bhasha) is among one of the ancient compositions and
had formed the base for other forms in this music tradition such as khyal, thumri
and raga. In the Karnatak music tradition the compositions are in the form of
Kriti, varanam and padam.[6]

People composing music using synthesizers in 2013.


Methods
Computer methods
As technology has developed in the 20th and 21st century, new methods of music
composition have come about. EEG headsets have also been used to create music by
interpreting the brainwaves of musicians.[7] This method has been used for Project
Mindtunes,[8] which involved collaborating disabled musicians with DJ Fresh, and
also by artists Lisa Park and Masaki Batoh.

Structure
Main article: Musical form
Compositional instrumentation
Main articles: Instrumentation (music) and Arrangement (music)
The task of adapting a composition for different musical ensembles is called
arranging or orchestration, may be undertaken by the composer or separately by an
arranger based on the composer's core composition. Based on such factors,
composers, orchestrators and/or arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation of
the original work. In the 2010s, the contemporary composer can virtually write for
almost any combination of instruments, ranging from a string section, wind and
brass sections used in standard orchestras to electronic instruments such as
synthesizers. Some common group settings include music for full orchestra
(consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion), concert band (which
consists of larger sections and greater diversity of woodwind, 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. Solos may be
unaccompanied, as with works for solo piano or solo cello, or solos may be
accompanied by another instrument or by an ensemble.

Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also decide to
write for voice (including choral works, some symphonies (e.g., Beethoven's ninth
symphony, operas, and musicals). Composers can also write for percussion
instruments or electronic instruments. Alternatively, as is the case with musique
concr�te, the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the
creation of music, such as typewriters, sirens, and so forth.[citation needed] 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 playing with the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out. 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.[9]

Arranging
Main article: Arrangement
Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment upon it such
as in mash-ups and various contemporary classical works.[10]

Interpretation
Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in Western classical music from
the 1750s onwards, there are many decisions that a performer and/or conductor has
to make, because notation does not specify all of the elements of musical
performance. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously
composed and notated is termed "interpretation." Different performers' or
conductor's interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of
the tempos that are chosen and the playing or singing style or phrasing of the
melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their own music in a concert are
interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform the music of others.
The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given
place is referred to as performance practice, whereas interpretation is generally
used to mean the individual choices of a performer.[citation needed]

Copyright and legal status


Globe icon.
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of
the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or
create a new article, as appropriate. (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove
this template message)
Copyright is a government-granted monopoly which, for a limited time, gives a
composition's owner�such as a composer or a composer's employer, in the case of
work for hire�a set of exclusive rights to the composition, such as the exclusive
right to publish sheet music describing the composition and how it should be
performed. Copyright requires anyone else wanting to use the composition in the
same ways to obtain a license (permission) from the owner. In some jurisdictions,
the composer can assign copyright, in part, to another party. Often, composers who
aren't doing business as publishing companies themselves will temporarily assign
their copyright interests to formal publishing companies, granting those companies
a license to control both the publication and the further licensing of the
composer's work. Contract law, not copyright law, governs these composer�publisher
contracts, which ordinarily involve an agreement on how profits from the
publisher's activities related to the work will be shared with the composer in the
form of royalties.

The scope of copyright in general is defined by various international treaties and


their implementations, which take the form of national statutes, and in common law
jurisdictions, case law. These agreements and corresponding body of law distinguish
between the rights applicable to sound recordings and the rights applicable to
compositions. For example, Beethoven's 9th Symphony is in the public domain, but in
most of the world, recordings of particular performances of that composition
usually are not. For copyright purposes, song lyrics and other performed words are
considered part of the composition, even though they may have different authors and
copyright owners than the non-lyrical elements. Many jurisdictions allow for
compulsory licensing of certain uses of compositions. For example, copyright law
may allow a record company to pay a modest fee to a copyright collective to which
the composer or publisher belongs, in exchange for the right to make and distribute
CDs containing a cover band's performance of the composer or publisher's
compositions. The license is "compulsory" because the copyright owner cannot refuse
or set terms for the license. Copyright collectives also typically manage the
licensing of public performances of compositions, whether by live musicians or by
transmitting sound recordings over radio or the Internet.

In the U.S.
Even though the first US copyright laws did not include musical compositions, they
were added as part of the Copyright Act of 1831. According to the circular issued
by United States Copy Right Office on Copy Right Registration of Musical
Compositions and Sound Recordings, a musical composition is defined as "A musical
composition consists of music, including any accompanying words, and is normally
registered as a work of the performing arts. The author of a musical composition is
generally the composer, and the lyricists if any. A musical composition may be in
the form of a notated copy (for example sheet music) in the form of a...record (for
example cassette tape, LP, or CD). Sending a musical composition in the form of a
phonorecord does not necessarily mean that there is a claim to copy right in the
sound recording."[11]

In the 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."[12]

In India
In India The Copy Right Act, 1957 prevailed for original literary, dramatic,
musical and artistic work till the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1984 was introduced.
Under the amended act, a new definition has been provided for musical work which
states "musical works means a work consisting of music and included any graphi
notation of such work but does not included any words or any action intended to be
sung, spoken or performed with the music."[13]

See also
Music portal
BCM Classification
Developing variation
Dickinson classification
MIDI composition
Music manuscript
Music publisher (popular music)
R�pertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)
References
"Musical Composition". www.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
"100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
"Symphony - The mature Classical period". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-
01-26.
Translation from Allen Forte, Tonal Harmony in Concept and Practice, third edition
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979), p.1. ISBN 0-03-020756-8.
Tilmouth, Michael. 1980. "Piece". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
first edition, 20 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie, Vol. 14: 735. London: Macmillan
Publishers; New York: Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN 1-56159-174-2.
Emmie Te Nijenhuis (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL. p. 80. ISBN
90-04-03978-3.
"Making Music With EEG Technology: Translate Brainwaves Into Sonic Soundscapes".
FAMEMAGAZINE. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
DJ Fresh & Mindtunes: A track created only by the mind (Documentary), retrieved 5
June 2015
Swados, Elizabeth (1988). Listening Out Loud: Becoming a Composer (first ed.). New
York: Harper & Row. pp. 25�26. ISBN 0-06-015992-8. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
BaileyShea, Matt (2007), "Filleted Mignon: A New Recipe for Analysis and
Recomposition", Music Theory Online Volume 13, Number 4, December 2007.
"Copy Right Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings" (PDF).
United States Copy Right Office. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1988.
JATINDRA KUMAR DAS (1 May 2015). LAW OF COPYRIGHT. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. pp.
163�64. ISBN 978-81-203-5090-8.
Sources
Laborde, Jean-Benjamin de. 1780. Essai sur la musique Ancienne et moderne, 4 vols.
Paris: Ph.D. Pierres & Eug�ne Onfroy.
Further reading
Sorce Keller, Marcello [it; de]. 1998. "Siamo tutti compositori. Alcune riflessioni
sulla distribuzione sociale del processo compositivo". Schweizer Jahrbuch f�r
Musikwissenschaft, Neue Folge 18:259-330.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musical compositions.
How to Compose Music � artofcomposing.com
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)
A Practical Guide to Musical Composition
ComposersNewPencil � Information, articles and music composition resources.
How to compose music
How to compose Music (Wikihow)
R�pertoire International des Sources Musicales � online database to locations of
musical manuscripts from around the world
How to Compose for New Age Piano
Composing Music

You might also like