To give you a glimpse about my work as a composer in residency at FACE, here is one of the six pieces created at the June 4th concert : To Dream.
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The string ensemble is conducted by Theodora Stathopoulos.
The student are from grade 10 and 11.
If you want to hear more from the concert, go to the page Composition.
Here is an article I wrote for the Canadian Music Educator / Musicien éducateur au Canada, volume 51 - number 4. I offer it to you with the kind permission of CMEA/ACME.
The musical black hole
Music courses in schools can be an excellent place for students to gain musical initiation to what is called the Repertoire – specifically, the music of Bach (1685 – 1750), Mozart (1756 – 1791) Beethoven (1770 – 1827) and other immortal composers. But there is a dismaying gap in the musical timeline students are exposed to. It seems the collective musical memory made an immense jump, leaving a significant portion of contemporary music badly neglected. Examples given in the classroom rarely go past 1940! Following immediately from that reference point comes popular music. Have more than 70 years of music been blacklisted and forgotten? It is as if an entire body of important work has simply disappeared into a bottomless pit, a musical black hole. It is an enormous absence in the chronology of music.
Music is present in all aspects of life. The difference between music’s role today and twenty years ago is that while music used to be sung and played by anyone and everyone, these days almost no one sings anymore. And yet never has Mankind been so intensely exposed to music in all its forms and attendant issues: internet, television, radio, movies, live shows and concerts, not to mention CDs and DVDs; and with all the magazines and publications, we think in terms of musical events as much as musical content. Add to that the dematerialization of music which has led us to reconsider complex and related aspects such as copyright and royalty payments to successors. What was previously a simple passion for music has become the consumption of products available in a thousand flavours and fragmented in a multitude of tiny, specialized niches.
Musical production is divided into two basic families: what we call “serious” music; and “popular” music. Each music family breaks down into several categories having, each in its turn, varying levels of development and complexity. Sometimes serious and popular music clash. But they often come together - to form the soundtrack for a film, for example; or in the creation of the musical element of other multi-media products.
Serious music is also called “contemporary” music, or it may fall under the generic term Classical music. Most of us can easily imagine a concert hall where silence is the rule and the atmosphere is heavy, filled with a respect steeped in tradition and ensured by a code of etiquette. What is most striking is the over-abundance of older people in the audience. From personal observation, I would say the average age is around 50. Where is the next generation of “serious” music lovers? What is the reason for this lack of young listeners? Whose fault is it - if indeed there is blame to be laid?
This situation was brought about in part by composers themselves. They pursued musical experimentation without regard for a public feeling increasingly lost and abandoned. Isolated in ivory towers, creators in search of the absolute such as Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951), Anton Webern (1883 – 1945), Pierre Boulez (1925 - ) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007) became enshrouded in the veils of elitism. Far be it from me to denigrate the results of their explorations. To the contrary: these composers helped create new systems for organizing sound and expanding the palette of colour and expression, all the while extending the limits of the musical aesthetic. But we have to admit there was a rupture in the link between the composer and the public.
How to optimize channels of communication for re-establishing this fragile link? Two ways: By better educating young people, and by enhancing the knowledge of teachers.
For teachers: Organizations such as the Quebec Music Educator Association (QMEA) in association with la Fédération des associations de musiciens éducateurs du Québec (FAMEQ) are building links between educators and composers. These groups facilitate encounters enabling music teachers to take the perspective of music creators. Twice my colleague Tom Brady and I have had the privilege of taking part in these conferences. The goal is to help teachers gain a better understanding of composers and their creative process. The exchanges are fruitful for all involved. It is not just a matter of demystifying the creative aspects; there is also debate and exchange of ideas on ways and means of exposing youth to high quality contemporary music – a genre not well known by a public bombarded from all sides by far more accessible productions. I would also point to FAMEQ and la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), and their ongoing efforts to make room for local composers at festivals and in training programs.
I am currently benefitting from a Canadian Music Centre (CMC) program developed to enable schools to bring a working composer into their community. Montreal’s FACE School welcomed me in this context - an opportunity for sharing and creativity which takes the form of workshops and creating. In the workshops I provide young musicians with the chance to put into practical use contemporary techniques relating to the use of voice in choral training. On the creative side, I have composed a full suite comprised of six parts for various ensembles: choir, concert band and string orchestra.
A point I like to emphasize in class is music’s historical timeline. I will ask students who have just listened to Erik Satie’s (1866 – 1925) Gymnopédie No 1 to determine the date of composition. Invariably, the answer fluctuates between 1960 to 1980 - whereas the piece was published in 1888! This piece is part of our collective memory; yet often the first reference date we hear relates to its use in other media, such as film. Young people are so enclosed in the present and the immediate that they lose a sense of time and its cultural periods. To address this, for my first class I give my Trebas Institute students an unmarked compact disc. Their challenge is to identify each of the fifteen tracks, assigning a title along with the name of the composer or artist. The pieces included on this mystery CD will range from the ancient to the popular and may include classical, jazz, current popular, and even film music. Two weeks later the students submit the results of their research. They have had access to software enabling them to name and classify the fifteen recordings with a great deal of precision. When I ask for the composition date, they are surprised at how the music has evolved over the course of time.
There is another problematic area where music education has a major responsibility: How to appreciate an art if we do not know the basics of its language? Could we respond to a book if we did not know how to read? In like manner, we have to possess some notion of music theory in order to bring ourselves beyond a state of simple, passive listening. Like all languages, music theory is comprised of different elements: alphabet (names of notes, order of accidentals, intervals), vocabulary (musical terms), and grammar (basic elements of tone forming scales and their chords). It is always possible to appreciate music that has had the advantage of wide diffusion and broad, repeated exposition over the long term. An emotional attachment develops. But if young people do not have the chance to hear and equip themselves with the keys enabling an understanding of contemporary works, it will be difficult to criticize their lack of curiosity in this regard.
Young people are far more open to new experiences than we generally give them credit for. All we have to do is expose them to this music. Many teachers are making the most of the immense advantages provided by the internet to highlight uses of classical music outside of its original context. Whether it be in films, songs or advertising these educators are making their students understand that classical music is not dead, it is beautiful and well adapted to new sounds. If the same exercise were used to highlight the wide-ranging use of contemporary music - in films, for example - a big step toward its appreciation could be taken. We only have to consider the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick (1928 – 1999) which used and made more famous Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949), and the music of György Ligeti (1923 – 2006) - Lux Æterna, Atmosphères, and the music of Aram Khatchaturian (1903 – 1978) - Gayne Ballet Suite. And it would be better still if we can inspire music students to study our own composers, artists such as André Prévost (1934 – 2001), Jacques Hétu (1938 – 2010), Michel Longtin (1946 — ), Denis Gougeon (1951 —), Serge Arcuri (1954 — ), André Hamel (1955 —), Ana Sokolovic (1968 — ), Nicolas Gilbert (1979 —) and many others.
The best link lies in direct contact between young people and the creators. This is where organizations such as QMEA, FAMEQ, CMC and SMCQ take centre stage, promoting the presence of creators in the school environment, building knowledge and awareness that can put an end to the musical black hole that will drag us into its vortex if we do not pay closer attention to a music that is part of who we are.
Montreal June 15,2010: L’AGAMM: L’Accès gratuit à la musique est un mythe (which stands for “Free Access to Music is a Myth”), a coalition of music rights holders, is asking that Internet service providers (ISPs) be required to pay a percentage of their sales revenues to music rights holders as compensation for the music being used.
“This would help music rights holders recover part of the cash flows resulting from uses of their music that, with the advent of digital technology, have been hijacked from the physical market, where copyright holders were receiving their fair share of compensation, and redirected to networks that are being controlled in near monopolistic fashion by ISPs,” said L’AGAMM’s spokesperson and former PMPA Board of Directors Chair, publisher Daniel Lafrance.
According to a recent Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) study, ISPs are now claiming 83% of online music use revenues for themselves while only 8% of those profits are being distributed among music sector rights holders (with the rest being paid out to credit companies and online sales sites). This creates a situation where the very creators of the highly attractive contents that are being used by others to make money are only being paid a pittance for their labour.
The Chair of the SPACQ Board of Directors, singer-songwriter Mario Chenart, added: “This situation has to stop, and we must move rapidly. Many actors in this sector have tried and failed to find a miracle solution. We do not claim to hold the cure for all that ails the industry, but we strongly believe that this is a measure that could bring back some financial balance to our drifting market.”
It must be emphasized that this financial compensation could in no way be construed as an authorization to download or share copyright protected musical contents illegally as if it were a hidden blanket licence. It is understood that this compensation would be paid by the ISPs, not by consumers.
It should also be understood that this measure would not be a permanent solution, but a transitory step towards an effective monetization system, and that it would help bring back some financial balance in the market on the one hand and, on the other, spur ISPs to fight piracy efficiently with the technical means already at their disposal. Not only would the ISPs now be able to assume their fair share of the liability for illegal file sharing, but music rights holders would finally be able to share in music access revenues.
Finally, L’AGAMM strongly believes that the implementation of a viable and fair monetization model depends on a willingness by all parties – professional rights holders associations, collective societies, ISPs, consumer associations and government authorities – to work together to make such an undertaking possible. None of these organizations can opt out of the debate without voluntarily jeopardizing the achievement of an effective model.
L’AGAMM members include APEM/PMPA (Professional Music Publishers’ Association), ARTISTI/UDA (Union des artistes), GMMQ (Quebec Musicians’ Guild), SODRAC (Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada), SPACQ (Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec).
Wow! A critic already for the album Bassoonist just came out and it feels like a message from the past. As I said on my previous article, the recording of the premiere of Mellow Tones for Johnny was done in 1993. The concert was held in New York at the chapel of Columbia University. It's funny to get comments about an event 17 years after it was given!!!
Here is what Chris Cutler from ReR Megacorp in England has to say :
«A very small, essentially handmade, edition of 300 copies of pieces researched and performed for the microtonal society at various venues in New York This is a collection of mostly microtonal compositions exploring extended bassoon techniques, the solo works often on the same turf as free improvisation, though not always. Louis Babin's Mellow Tones for Johnny - for small ensemble - stands out, as does Talibanned Buddhas, for contrabassoon, cello gong, bowls and bells. A valuable window on a world seldom encountered.»
I was once a trumpeter. Coming from the past, two records are now available of my life as a performer with the American Festival of Microtonal Music (AFMM) in New York : Ideas (PITCH P-200212) and Bassoonist (PITCH P-200214). Both albums are produced by my dear friend the bassoonist, director and composer Johnny Reinhard who created and still manage the AFMM.
You can buy them at CDBaby!
You can hear me playing in 1988 on Harry Partch's Ulysses Departs From The Edge on the album Ideas.
I am also part of the ensemble in one of my first commissioned work Mellow Tones For Johnny. It is part of Bassoonist and I read with a smile the liner note I wrote at the time in 1993:
“Listening back to the live recording of Mellow Tones for Johnny brings to me some nostalgia. I remember what I wanted to capture while I composed this piece: some of the freedom we got out of the eclectic repertoire the American Festival of Microtonal Music (AFMM) was able to offer. Mostly it was a gift to a dear friend of mine: Johnny Reinhard. He devoted so much passion over the years for this music. It was written in the stars I would some day commit myself to some microtonal technique. Being trumpeter of the AFMM Ensemble for so long, I felt it was important for me to leave something of my own perspective. I worked hands on with the sound using a synthesizer mapped in quarter tones. The piece is in two parts, beginning with a Prelude that sets the mood for the entrance of the bassoon in a lyrical fashion. The second part moves to particular rhythmic and contrapuntal elements. After some cinematic images, the two good friends close in conversation together: trumpet and bassoon. A special thanks to the contribution of Skip La Plante’s exotics instruments rescued from the streets of New York City, as well as to the fine direction of Gines-Didier Cano.”
I had the priviledge to be part of an exciting group of musicians dedicated to new ways to look upon tone perceptions.
My friend the trumpeter Frédéric Demers is in the spotlight in this article in the music magazine Fanfare. The article is signed by James Reel and gives a critic about the album "Caranaval et Concertos" produced last year and contains an interview with Frédéric. I had the opportunity to collaborate with Frédéric on this production by writing some arrangements. I even composed the jazz section within the "Carnaval de Montéal" based upon the "Carnaval of Venice". He is a wonderful man an a great artist to discover.
This video is my gift to you for the Holliday Season. This is an arrangement of Christmas Tree I have done last year for the radio show Macadam Tribu on Radio-Canada. This was part of the Christmas Special 2008. The director Luc Chamberland proposed to me to make a clip out of it. There it is, my first video production.
Qin Shu is the singer of this off beat arrangement.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family. May the New Year be full of health and happiness.
Yesterday night in Saint-Jérôme, the young pianist Philippe Prud'Homme made the world premiere of my piano piece Duel. I was there with my wife. Philippe took it off with flying colors. He told me his intention of making a recording of it for a futur demo after Hollydays. His program was quite ambitious. We have to realize that Philippe has barely six years of piano behind him at age 18. Still he shows mastery and great musicality. Check him out in the future.
I was at the Trebas Institute Graduation last Thursday. I always attend this event with great pleasure. I have then the opportunity to meet again my former students. At this occasion, I was asked to make an address to them. This was the occasion to talk about the reality of the business for those who think school is an end by itself.
During my years at the Conservatoire de musique, the business aspect was not really covered by any special courses. In fact, we were so wrapped into the daily practice of our instrument that most of us got into the business almost as an act of shear luck. We did not have any specific wisdom provided to us other than having a rule stating the impossibility for the students to accept any work outside the institution unless permission was granted! I understand the principle behind it, but it did not really help us to understand the way the then outside world was working. The only way some information could leak to us was by the side by talking to our private teachers.
On theses days I thought I needed at least three strings on my bow: playing, teaching and composing. As time went by I had to add another one: the digital world.
I focused my speech on networking. How to value the people surrounding us is of the utmost importance. We never know from which side an opportunity might show up. We never know when as well. And like a colleague of mine told me: “This is a people’s business”. So it is not a matter of being a pain in the ass or to overexpose yourself to your contacts, but rather to notify them about your whereabouts and your business developments. I think proper to keep it at the business level and to not mingle with personal information like some do on online social network.
