Reflections of a British Composer in America

Abstract

WHATEVER debate there may be about the artist and his relation to society, there can be little doubt that he is directly dependent on some aspect of society in order to achieve a chance to be read, seen, or heard. In the case of the composer he is particularly dependent on the economy of of the society as well as its interest. The presentation of music, whether it be a piano recital in a none-too-famous hall, or a performance of an opera in a great opera house, is expensive. Not only is it expensive, but it is also unlikely that the money expended on the work will yield any profit or, in some cases, even be retrieved. The composer, then, unless he is concerned with the world of entertainment, the cinema, or possibly ballet, is not a very marketable entity. He, unlike the painter or sculptor, cannot sell his work and have it prized by the purchaser as a possession, quite apart from his appreciation of it as art; neither can he enjoy the continuous exposure of his work to the public in a gallery or elsewhere. The expensive performance is fleeting and even the commercial recording, if ever made, has to be picked out by the public from amidst the mass of recordings which flood the market every month. Similarly, he cannot make, off the sale of his score, the money which the writer makes off his book, as few people want to buy a score unless it be for specialized study. Again, even if he reaches the theater as composer of opera or ballet, it is impossible that such a work would have financial success comparable to that of a play; and therefore few sponsors will back his work as they would that of a playwright. These observations are not made to arouse sympathy for the poor composer but simply to state a fact. Of course it is true to say that the other arts, as well, require expenses for their promotion; but there is probably nothing so expensive as the rehearsals and performance of an opera or a large orchestral work prepared by a first-rate group. Such things are often forgotten by the composer when he complains of too little return from the publisher or promoter and, conversely, by the publishers or promoters when they expect the composer to be satisfied with a minimum of token return (if indeed any at all) from a performance of his work. The public is seldom remotely aware of these matters. The composer in America is in a different position from the composer in Europe, in many ways. Some of these can bear direct comparison, such as the different functions of the radio on the two continents; but it is often difficult to draw valid comparisons between the United States as a whole and the various countries which make up the continent of Europe. The problems which face a composer in Oregon or Louisiana are likely to be