# A lesson, or a new piece?



## George B (Nov 17, 2014)

*WOULD YOU RATHER*

Would you rather have a music lesson with a famous composer of your choice (dead)

OR

have the composer of your choice (dead) compose an entirely new piece the world has never heard before.

Either way, you're getting rich for the new musical insight the composer has given you (musical interpretation of their pieces or just an ordinary music lesson), or the new piece of music you get to premier.

_Would you rather have Chopin teach piano and give new musical insight into how to play his pieces,

OR

have Chopin compose another Ballade/nocturne_


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Well, if the choice was have Mozart either give me a 45 minute fortepiano lesson or have him compose a new fortepiano concerto instead, I would choose the latter. I can learn how to play a keyboard on my computer.


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## George B (Nov 17, 2014)

Not just technique, also insight into how he thinks you should play his pieces etc


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2014)

George B said:


> have the composer of your choice (dead) compose an entirely new piece the world has never heard before.


Well, I have what I already have, which is living composers composing entirely new pieces the world has never heard before.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I'd love a piano lesson with Chopin, or Beethoven, or Mozart, or Liszt, or just about anyone really.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Why do they have to be dead composers?


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

George B said:


> Not just technique, also insight into how he thinks you should play his pieces etc


These insights would be pointless without the technique to pull it off. As a hack pianist, I'd benefit just as much from instruction from the old lady down the street.

So I'd choose the new composition.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Yes, I'll never be good enough playing my violin. *Biber*'s violin technique allowed him to easily reach the 6th and 7th positions, employ multiple stops in intricate polyphonic passages, and explore the various possibilities of scordatura tuning , according to Wiki.

What use would that be to *me*? :lol:

So I'd like him to write some more solo violin music - maybe a chaconne or some other dance; though, as he was a religious man, maybe it would have to be for the dancing choirboys of Seville. Yes, that's it - a commission from a Spanish grandee for Easter. Perfect.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

violadude said:


> Why do they have to be dead composers?


Because everyone knows that Shostakovich was the last great composer and all composers since are mere commoners.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

violadude said:


> Why do they have to be dead composers?




I'm guessing they don't _have to be_, but this was the question that was asked. I suppose he could have asked if you wanted fries with your dead composer. But he didn't. Why didn't he? Hey George B, why didn't you offer us fries with our dead composer?

As for me, I'm trying to imagine how the music world would react to the news that I had chosen to get a music lesson from Mahler rather than have him compose a new symphony.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I'd certainly choose a new composition over a lesson. Specifically I'd choose a cello concerto from Mozart. If he told me there was a good reason he never wrote one, then I'd accept a new symphony (after giving him a little grief for never writing a cello concerto). 

I'm certain that the new music would give me far more joy throughout my life than a lesson would.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

This is a hard nutter to crack, but I don't really know of any composer I'd like to have a lesson with (For me a lesson would have to be with a pianist I love like Horowitz or Richter or Petri or even Heinrich Neuhaus, and it had to be when I was 8 and the lesson should have a duration of 8 or 10 years :tiphat.

So a new composition it is, a piano sonata or suite (maybe for prepared piano) by some contemporary composer like G.F. Haas!

/ptr


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

I would choose a new string quartet from Beethoven rather than a piano lesson. I'd be too scared of his terrible temper to sit down with him for a lesson, anyhow!


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## George B (Nov 17, 2014)

Okay, so I can definitely see there's a strong verdict on which one they would like.



> Why do they have to be dead composers?


The reason I said 'dead' composers is because living composers are doing their job and composing, therefore defeating the point of the 'Would you rather' not to mention, you could (although incredibly unlikely) also have a music lesson with a living composer. I guess the question is similar to: 'If you could resurrect a composer for a day, what would you do with them' kind of question.

Also, the reason why im comparing a new piece of music to a mere music lesson is because in the lesson, you can take notes, leave the lesson, teach at lectures, become a new insight into the musical community. Also, you would probably become rich...just saying.



> Well, I have what I already have, which is living composers composing entirely new pieces the world has never heard before.


I gave you the option of choosing answers A or B. You choose C. C is not a valid answer, please try again.



> I suppose he could have asked if you wanted fries with your dead composer. But he didn't. Why didn't he? Hey George B, why didn't you offer us fries with our dead composer?


Well, I suppose you can have fries with your dead composer...if it makes you happy?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

George B said:


> Not just technique, also insight into how he thinks you should play his pieces etc


Sorry. It would be a waste. I don't speak or comprehend German. So Mozart would be a waste of time for me.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Well, if the choice was have Mozart either give me a 45 minute fortepiano lesson or have him compose a new fortepiano concerto instead, I would choose the latter. I can learn how to play a keyboard on my computer.


I quite agree, for two reasons. Firstly, considering that in the culture of his time, giving a piano lesson meant shouting at and insulting the student, I'd probably kill him before Salieri got close to it. Secondly, piano technique has evolved since his time, and it is unlikely you could learn anything from him that you couldn't learn from a modern pianist.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brianvds said:


> I quite agree, for two reasons. Firstly, considering that in the culture of his time, giving a piano lesson meant shouting at and insulting the student, I'd probably kill him before Salieri got close to it. Secondly, piano technique has evolved since his time, and it is unlikely you could learn anything from him that you couldn't learn from a modern pianist.


Plus, what would be the point? I wouldn't understand Mozart's German. I understand my computer just fine.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Plus, what would be the point? I wouldn't understand Mozart's German. I understand my computer just fine.


With me it's the opposite: I think I'd have a better chance understanding German (or Mandarin, for that matter) than ever understanding my computer.


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## Guest (Nov 18, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Because everyone knows that Shostakovich was the last great composer and all composers since are mere commoners.


Come now. Didn't you read the whole thread? I do believe an exception was made for John Williams!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I would much rather have a composition lesson with someone like Stravinsky than have him compose another piece of music!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

A minor or major hitherto undiscovered masterpiece, each and every time.

There is not much which cannot already be learned, with proper study, and great instructors, from the scores of dead composers -- and all you might learn from the angle of performance is near 100% certain as to having been directly passed on from master / pupil/ master, etc... for generations, ergo: nothing to 'learn' in any case, really, while another great small or large masterwork from them would be wonderful.


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