Naming Music

On my desk are the FC, Lyrical conducting, Why we teach Music, dull harmony books,  Norden, the wheel of orchestration in the making, your brain on music, thinking like Da Vinci, this film versus concert music discussion…and I have to write a piece…but..and…no….really? …I wonder: 

“Why do I need this thought experiment ‘MelLusko’ today? Before writing any new Music? Yes, I do!”

So…

Inventing something is not thinking of something completely new on itself. Nobody would understand that, or we would start re-inventing the wheel. Inventing is combining and redefining existing ideas to create something new: ‘Standing on the shoulders of Giants’.

When I stand on your 4 shoulders, I SEE MelLusko:

– – – – – – – – – 

A + B = C 

<=>

Alfa + Beta = Ceta

<=>

STORY + FORM = MElLusko

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With the SUM not being the two apart together, but something new, because a Soul added them up. 

– – – – – – – – – 

This Music cannot be named as a genre or a style, nor fit in any box already invented. An invention never can, by definition. Inventions cannot be boxed, those boxes won’t ever exist, instead, they need to be named. Like you name your children before you know what they grow into. Naming sets people free to add meaning to their names. I named this Child of Music ‘MelLusko’, now it is free to add meaning to it’s name.

Now we can SEE what it might grow into. But we can only know the meaning of the name of this child, looking back on it’s history. The only thing a composer can do today, is name a musical child individually and nurture it and have FAITH. And maybe some day, look back and understand the meaning of the name of that unique Musical Child. 

Now… reconsidering the discussion on film- versus concert-music, remember? 

The names of genres (film-music, concert-music, symphony) are no names at all. These ‘names’ are based upon what the music is used for, not upon what the music is. You would not name your child nephew or uncle or gardener, would you? A Human means so much more than it’s function. Music means so much more than it’s function.

When your Music doesn’t fit any genre and people have trouble fitting it in the existing filing system, you did a brilliant job inventing something that never existed before. You created something that has never been heard before, probably something you needed to hear. For me, in this moment, that music is named ‘MelLusko’. 

Being practical what to write for, won’t give us the freedom to create these new musical ideas. On top of that, no new genres will blossom. 

People will always try to ‘box’ us, our Music, in file- systems, historic lines, harmonic tables…Because new things make people feel insecure. And their feeling of insecurity makes them want to organize their world. 

But that’s completely irrelevant for composers, because we do not live in a world of boxes. Composers are not insecure about their Music, maybe about a lot of other things, but not their Music. When you know you struggle to write the Truth, the Music is always right. 

What is relevant, is that we don’t spend any more time on writing about broken filing systems that describe what Music is for, but start inventing names for our Music to name what it is, to name it uniquely and set it free. 

So, that’s why I needed this thought experiment named ‘MelLusko’, before starting a new composition: now I know how to properly name my Music, set it free. 

With all the love and care,

all of this happened, 

because people were teaching me Harmony.

The one thing I could not bring myself

to learn from books out of boxes. 

Thanks so much for sharing all your knowledge and passion, 

AnnaLu

By Anneloes Wolters

Composer

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