What Is A Composer?
A composer generally means someone who arranges things, usually in art forms. However, A music composer refers to a person who orchestrates original scores for solo musicians or ensembles. The Latin definition of a composer is ‘the one who puts together.’ They must know lots about music theory or written music and usually, they are extremely good at performing and amazing pianists. A composer and a songwriter are basically the same roles as they both write music, however, the term ‘songwriter’ is more modern and they generally write new genres like pop. Being a composer is considered more high brow as the music they create is more traditional and it is usually put to a form of media or video game. Composers can make music in many genres from classical to jazz and blues.
Examples Of Composers
Mozart- A classical composer from the 1700s. Known as one of the most influential and best composers of all time. He has made over 600 works in his life. One of his most famous pieces is the overture to his opera ‘The Marriage Of Figaro’.
Haydn- An Austrian composer of the classical period, his most famous compositions include The Seasons, The Creation, and his string quartet compositions. He has claimed the name “Father of the Symphony.”
Beethoven- German composer and pianist and his works span from the Classical to Romantic eras. He was suffering from deafness in his late period however some of his most ambitious compositions were made them. His music is the most performed out of the whole classical music repertoire.
Hans Zimmer- The German composer and self-taught pianist behind films like The Lion King, Dunkirk and the remade Batman movies. He is the head of film music at DreamWorks studios and has received many different awards for his film work.
John Williams- An American composer and musician, most famous for his iconic Star Wars soundtracks. He is regarded as the best film composer ever. He has won 25 Grammy awards and has composed for other films like Superman, Jaws, Home Alone and many more.
Gustavo Santaolalla- He is a more recent composer, musician and producer from Argentina. He has made scores for films like Brokeback Mountain and Babel, TV shows and The Last Of Us; a video game series. He doesn’t actually know how to read or write notation.
John Cage- A very avant-garde composer and also philosopher, mostly known for his composition 4’33” which is a deliberately silent piece of music coming from the musicians, but uses the sound of the environment and the audience instead. He composed the longest piece of music, called ORGAN2/ASLSP which will last until the year 2640. Phe ASLSP part means As Slow As Possible.
What Is A Composition?
A composition is a piece of work that is arranged or made that relates to the visual arts like photography and art and others, even baking. This is similar in music, except that the composition being arranged by the composer has musical techniques implemented so that it is pleasing to the ear. It also has to be original. The composition is most likely to be written in notation so the performers can learn and read the score. There are many purposes of a composition. Many of these are for entertainment or a sense of escapism for both the audience and the composer. Some other purposes are for forms of media (writing for film and TV), live performances, religion (music has a huge link with religion and has developed music massively over time), self-expression, services and events (like weddings and football matches) and communication with an audience.
A musical composition needs to have musical elements as, without this, no music would ever exist. In past compositions, harmony and melody were always the most important elements for any piece of music. Despite this, more recently, rhythm is deemed the most important musical element because of the rise of jazz and blues in the early/mid-1900s. These genres put harmony and melody lower in importance but still up there as without these, it the song would simply be un-tuned percussion. This shows that depending on what music technique is seen as the most important, it can express a whole new genre. Another example is in pop music, where the melody is seen as number one. Other musical elements such as instrumentation, texture, dynamics, and structure would (almost always) come after rhythm, harmony and melody.