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The composer in the classroom: [by] R. Murray Schafer
37 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 1, 1965
6 people want to read
About the author
R. Murray Schafer
43 books31 followersRaymond Murray Schafer (1933-2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World (1977). He was the first recipient of the Jules Léger Prize in 1978.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 10, 2024
Read as research for a music history essay.
1. Getting Acquainted
This was a very interesting section. Schafer describes music's unique distinction from other forms of intellectual activity (i.e. politics, religion) in that people can appreciate and subscribe to multiple genres without internal dissonance. For instance, one could like both jazz and Baroque music, whereas it'd be odd to find someone who is both Muslim and Christian. Thereby, music is not something that is at the heart of most conflicts (aside from petty disagreements), whereas religious and political differences have shaped countless wars in the past. What is most interesting is when Schafer poses the question, "Does it necessarily follow that [music] is unimportant just because men don’t fight over it?" to which a student responds, "Perhaps it’s important because of this. Perhaps it brings men together instead of separating them." Schafer later posits that it's in one's intellectual duty to explore new forms of music to appreciate as part of their artistic development, since remaining on one form of music only is short sighted and immature in the sense of the development of the self, just as a 40 year old reading only comic books from when he was a teen can be seen as short sighted as they did not explore other forms of literature they like. Interesting philosophy.
2. What is Music?
First plausible definition: Music is something you like. Since appreciation of music is purely subjective, this definition instantly falls. And subsequently, the next definition also falls: Music is something pleasing to the ear. Moreover, horror film scores have the sole purpose of not being pleasing to the ear, yet they're still considered music, so this definition also falls.
Third plausible definition: Music is sound arranged with melody and rhythm. By defining melody as an ordered set of tones, and rhythm an ordered set of timed intervals between the tones, the definition seems to stand. Yet, intuitively, someone hammering nails is not music, thus there is something in the definition that falls. However, what if that hammering of nails was used in a piece? Ultimately, the conclusion is that *intention* is what distinguishes music from sound, so then it must be incorporated into the definition. Thus they get to the final definition: Music is an organization of sounds (Rhythm, melody, etc) which is intended to be listened to. The exploration of the semantics of these words wasn't that interesting to me, but it is food for thought.
3. Descriptive Music
This chapter was all about exploring the different ways of expressing stimuli through the use of instruments. Schafer poses there are three categories: Stimuli that has explicit sounds (such as a bird chirping), stimuli that suggest an atmosphere (such as fog), and stimuli that have neither (such as a rock or a tree). I think it's quite interesting, but what caught my attention the most is Schafer's approach to teaching these students. Through this discussion, he encourages innovation by using the students as examples, and by letting them compose their own music through collaboration and constructive criticism. Comparing this with current music class in schools, this was so beautiful to imagine in my head, and if all schools could teach students like this, and students could be this engaged, the art of music would be infinitely more developed.
4. Textures of Sound
Schafer distinguishes lyrical music from dramatic music, where lyricism remains with a consistent tone (low, soft, slow, etc) to bring a vibe, whereas dramatic music is full of contrast (low to high, soft to loud, etc). He then gets the students to conduct themselves, with two sections of the orchestra, and try to achieve contrast. The result is two conductors watching and listening to each other and producing innovative and engaging music. Again, a testament to Schafer's pedagogy.
5. Music and Conversation
Schafer teaches the students on how to improvise and have dialogue through music. It's really beautiful, and really shows how music can unite people, especially different musicians. If I were taught in that environment, I honestly may have become a composer and professional musician myself. Schafer's pedagogy really is something spectacular.
6. Mask of the Evil Demon
This demonstrated the interplay between literature, music, and drama, and was quite interesting to read. It demonstrates how different media of art can be expressed and interwoven together to create something more expressive than its individual parts. Quite insighting.
In all, reading this small book gave me a good view on both Schafer's philosophies on art, as well as his pedagogy. I will be keeping all of this in mind writing my essay.
1. Getting Acquainted
This was a very interesting section. Schafer describes music's unique distinction from other forms of intellectual activity (i.e. politics, religion) in that people can appreciate and subscribe to multiple genres without internal dissonance. For instance, one could like both jazz and Baroque music, whereas it'd be odd to find someone who is both Muslim and Christian. Thereby, music is not something that is at the heart of most conflicts (aside from petty disagreements), whereas religious and political differences have shaped countless wars in the past. What is most interesting is when Schafer poses the question, "Does it necessarily follow that [music] is unimportant just because men don’t fight over it?" to which a student responds, "Perhaps it’s important because of this. Perhaps it brings men together instead of separating them." Schafer later posits that it's in one's intellectual duty to explore new forms of music to appreciate as part of their artistic development, since remaining on one form of music only is short sighted and immature in the sense of the development of the self, just as a 40 year old reading only comic books from when he was a teen can be seen as short sighted as they did not explore other forms of literature they like. Interesting philosophy.
2. What is Music?
First plausible definition: Music is something you like. Since appreciation of music is purely subjective, this definition instantly falls. And subsequently, the next definition also falls: Music is something pleasing to the ear. Moreover, horror film scores have the sole purpose of not being pleasing to the ear, yet they're still considered music, so this definition also falls.
Third plausible definition: Music is sound arranged with melody and rhythm. By defining melody as an ordered set of tones, and rhythm an ordered set of timed intervals between the tones, the definition seems to stand. Yet, intuitively, someone hammering nails is not music, thus there is something in the definition that falls. However, what if that hammering of nails was used in a piece? Ultimately, the conclusion is that *intention* is what distinguishes music from sound, so then it must be incorporated into the definition. Thus they get to the final definition: Music is an organization of sounds (Rhythm, melody, etc) which is intended to be listened to. The exploration of the semantics of these words wasn't that interesting to me, but it is food for thought.
3. Descriptive Music
This chapter was all about exploring the different ways of expressing stimuli through the use of instruments. Schafer poses there are three categories: Stimuli that has explicit sounds (such as a bird chirping), stimuli that suggest an atmosphere (such as fog), and stimuli that have neither (such as a rock or a tree). I think it's quite interesting, but what caught my attention the most is Schafer's approach to teaching these students. Through this discussion, he encourages innovation by using the students as examples, and by letting them compose their own music through collaboration and constructive criticism. Comparing this with current music class in schools, this was so beautiful to imagine in my head, and if all schools could teach students like this, and students could be this engaged, the art of music would be infinitely more developed.
4. Textures of Sound
Schafer distinguishes lyrical music from dramatic music, where lyricism remains with a consistent tone (low, soft, slow, etc) to bring a vibe, whereas dramatic music is full of contrast (low to high, soft to loud, etc). He then gets the students to conduct themselves, with two sections of the orchestra, and try to achieve contrast. The result is two conductors watching and listening to each other and producing innovative and engaging music. Again, a testament to Schafer's pedagogy.
5. Music and Conversation
Schafer teaches the students on how to improvise and have dialogue through music. It's really beautiful, and really shows how music can unite people, especially different musicians. If I were taught in that environment, I honestly may have become a composer and professional musician myself. Schafer's pedagogy really is something spectacular.
6. Mask of the Evil Demon
This demonstrated the interplay between literature, music, and drama, and was quite interesting to read. It demonstrates how different media of art can be expressed and interwoven together to create something more expressive than its individual parts. Quite insighting.
In all, reading this small book gave me a good view on both Schafer's philosophies on art, as well as his pedagogy. I will be keeping all of this in mind writing my essay.
Displaying 1 of 1 review