REALLY anal composers

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I had a talk with my teacher about Beethoven the other day, and he said that Beethoven was REALLY anal.  But if you trust him, And play EXACTLY as the score says, you'll be okay.  That's why he's sooooo good.  On the other hand, for second rate composers you need to help them out a little bit because a lot of times their markings just don't work.  He also mentioned that Debussy and Stravinsky were REALLY anal composers and were geniuses like Beethoven because once again, if you trust them, and play EXACTLY as the score says, you'll be okay.

So this definitely got me thinking a bit.  

So...  Who are some other composers who were as anal as Beethoven?

[patrickd]

Probably Ravel.

[birba]

Am I the only one here who doesn't understand the term "anal" in this context? 

[outin]

Am I the only one here who doesn't understand the term "anal" in this context? 

No, you are not...
But I figured that Rach's teacher seems to think it's pretty much the same as being a genious?

[nystul]

Am I the only one here who doesn't understand the term "anal" in this context? 

Obsessed with details, meticulous, control freak...

[birba]

You're right.  I found it.

anal character:


noun
Psychoanalysis . a group of personality traits including meticulousness, compulsiveness, and rigidity, believed to be associated with excessive preoccupation with the anal phase as a child, with effects lingering into adulthood.

[fftransform]

Barber, Xenakis, Boulez, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saens, Sorabji.

[49410enrique]

Barber, Xenakis, Boulez, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saens, Sorabji.

exactly! yeah i agree w fftransform here. totally.

i think the teacher is misapplying 'anal' in a musical context. if you want to talk super anal, we can consider a look at score specificity, and as you get later into romanticism, and after that, modern music, instructions  to the musician become ultra specific.

i'd also add grainger to that list to have a super specific compoer in a 'tonal' tradition, (there are no doubt many 'true moderns' i probably do not even know about i.e.  composers i'm not aware of or have yet to discover/study). percy's constant need to spell out exactly what he wants you to do and how he wants it done in his scores are some of the most specific musical instructions i've encountered.

[chopin2015]

exactly! yeah i agree w fftransform here. totally.

i think the teacher is misapplying 'anal' in a musical context. if you want to talk super anal, we can consider a look at score specificity, and as you get later into romanticism, and after that, modern music, instructions  to the musician become ultra specific.

i'd also add grainger to that list to have a super specific compoer in a 'tonal' tradition, (there are no doubt many 'true moderns' i probably do not even know about i.e.  composers i'm not aware of or have yet to discover/study). percy's constant need to spell out exactly what he wants you to do and how he wants it done in his scores are some of the most specific musical instructions i've encountered.

Haha, yes. When you get through a section of distinct difficulty and you flip the page and then there's like 5 more pages like this...then you're like wow I should have been having fun with that because freakin' LOOK!!!!

[fftransform]

exactly! yeah i agree w fftransform here. totally.

i think the teacher is misapplying 'anal' in a musical context. if you want to talk super anal, we can consider a look at score specificity, and as you get later into romanticism, and after that, modern music, instructions  to the musician become ultra specific.

Hi, you have misinterpreted my post.  Those composers are/were well-known for being very particular about performances of their own works.  It has nothing to do with the era that they wrote in.

[49410enrique]

Hi, you have misinterpreted my post.  Those composers are/were well-known for being very particular about performances of their own works.  It has nothing to do with the era that they wrote in.

oh. got it. sorry about that. thanks for correcting me. that makes total sense. im super enthusiastic about learning about modern composers and their works but definately have a long ways to go....

[starstruck5]

John Cage would have argued that the very essence of Western Classical Music is about ego and control. He would have called most composers Anal -

[perprocrastinate]

I read somewhere that Alkan wanted people to adhere to his metronome markings as close as possible.

[j_menz]

Your beloved Carl Vine is pretty anal in his scores.

I must say I don't see it as being true of Beethoven at all.

[scherzo123]

Mozart