# Who are your influences?



## Torkelburger

It's been awhile since we've had a discussion thread in the composer's forum. Thought I'd start one where we could share our influences (if you have them). Mine change from time to time but mostly I get inspiration from Stravinsky (neo Classical period), Debussy, Shostakovich, Martinu, Persichetti, Badings, Walton, Fine. I would consider myself a *post* neo Classicist (I coined that term myself AFAIK as I believe neo classicism is not dead nor dated).

For living composers who influence me, I like John Harbison (who I did not like on first hearing but his music really grew on me as I got to know it). While my music has some elements of minimalism at times, I generally am not a fan nor am I influenced by new complexity. I wouldn't consider myself a Neo Romanticist either although I do like it a lot (Barber, Del Tredici, Corigliano).

What are your influences and how would you describe your style?


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## Retrograde Inversion

I've tended to shy away from asking this of others ever since I got my head bitten off once some years ago at a composer's workshop with the answer that the question "wasn't useful". Then again, that person was one of those types whose usual response to any comment or query about their music was a scornful "That's not one of my compositional concerns".


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## Torkelburger

Isn't useful? It's a way of learning about other composers you might not know about at all and may even potentially become influenced by. I've been influenced by others recommendations. Sounds like that person just has a big ego.


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## JamieHoldham

I have personally been influenced the most by the heavenloy divinity and perfection of *Johann Sebastian Bach's* music, it is mathmatically perfect, with atleast 99.99% of the time no music notation errors in any way, shape or form. With that said even as perfect as it is, it still isn't for everyone. But the perfect craft of which he brought to his music inspired me to use polyphony so heavily and increase my music in complexity whilst trying to pay more attention towards the music theory nature of composing, to compose "by the rules" to an extant, but not completely which leads me to me 2nd biggest influence =

*Beethoven..* the power of his music, the triumphant and heroic feel and touch he gives to his miusic is what draw me too him, and what I try to give to my music also, his inspiration to me is simply that I can relate to him, shall I daresay a lone man, yet with more friends even in the lowest point of his life then I will ever have, and his lack of love life or relationships, I have had zero luck so far, nor do I expect to ever find even a decent woman that would bother or put up with me. All in all Beethoven is a influence to me not just musically, but also on a human, personal level.

My last biggest influence would be, *Richard Wagner*. Most of his music, especially his Overtures are just a absolute adventure and magnificent experience to listen too, more than just music, Wagner with his mastery of Harmony and extremely gradual but still intresting and at the same time very in depth development sections bring the listener into another reality, a dream, a experience which is difficult to describe, because he is one of the very first, (I believe) composers to make such intellectually in-depth music, music that has influenced modernism, composers, artists, theatres, films and literature to a a very big degree, which makes me give a lot of respect for him, completely irregardless of whatever people choose to demonise him with whatever "anti-semetic" comments he made, not that I agree or like anti-sementism at all.

I also have a significant amount of other composers influence me in little ways here in there, but not as much as these three greats above.


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## Medley

It's not something I usually think about, honestly...when it comes to classical music, I just write out whatever is in my head and I don't usually have a set goal in mind when I'm in that state. Perhaps that was because my knowledge of classical composers was and still is so limited, though. Either way, the only pianist I had within my library at the time (Brandon Musser) was rarely ever someone I tried to imitate. His songs were wonderful to me, but only once did I ever actually try to imitate something of his style.

That being said, I have grown steadily more enamored with many of Scriabin's works. His atonal pieces in particular strike a chord within me that most other atonal composers I've listened to don't quite hit, and I admit this is likely due to my sensibilities as a fairly new listener to classical, but Scriabin also doesn't just sound like complete randomness to me personally when he does atonal. 

So....who knows, perhaps someday when I learn to walk within the realm of classical, I may come to attempt something similar to what I've heard in bits of Vers la flamme. As it stands, though, I only consciously think of influences when writing in genres other than classical, and those influences are clearly heard in those songs.


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## musicrom

I don't think I've really found my composing style yet. Unfortunately, my skill and experience is too low at this point for me to even attempt to emulate any of my favorite composers. I've had influences on a smaller scale, including Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Hoffmeister, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Antheil, Glass, and Ligeti (and probably a few more), but I'm not sure how easily a listener might notice these influences. I think most of my compositions differ from each other considerably, as I aim to do something different every time, although I feel like I'm limited because of my inexperience and lack of training, which might be where the similarities kick in. Anyways, if I were to get better at writing music, I would try not to limit myself to writing in any particular style and instead try to take in all of my influences so that they complement and improve on each other.


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## Pugg

musicrom said:


> I don't think I've really found my composing style yet. Unfortunately, my skill and experience is too low at this point for me to even attempt to emulate any of my favorite composers. I've had influences on a smaller scale, including Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Hoffmeister, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Antheil, Glass, and Ligeti (and probably a few more), but I'm not sure how easily a listener might notice these influences. I think most of my compositions differ from each other considerably, as I aim to do something different every time, although I feel like I'm limited because of my inexperience and lack of training, which might be where the similarities kick in. Anyways, if I were to get better at writing music, I would try not to limit myself to writing in any particular style and instead try to take in all of my influences so that they complement and improve on each other.


As long as you know your own strength and limits, I am sure it will be fine.


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## EdwardBast

I've been meaning to respond to your threads but was out of the country with limited TC participation last week. 

The only influence I am sure of, I suppose, is King Crimson — I think in 5s and 7s and 11s more often than in 3s and 4s — but that influence gets obscured by the textures of classical ensembles. And I must have absorbed lots from Russian composers, but I have analyzed so much music from different eras that I'm not sure any specific influences end up being audible(?) As you have heard, my music is pretty conservative in most respects.


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## Torkelburger

EdwardBast said:


> I've been meaning to respond to your threads but was out of the country with limited TC participation last week.
> 
> The only influence I am sure of, I suppose, is King Crimson - I think in 5s and 7s and 11s more often than in 3s and 4s - but that influence gets obscured by the textures of classical ensembles. And I must have absorbed lots from Russian composers, but I have analyzed so much music from different eras that I'm not sure any specific influences end up being audible(?) As you have heard, my music is pretty conservative in most respects.


I really want to check out some King Crimson. I keep hearing good things about them and I love prog rock. I have some time this week and will search the internet.


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