Two Conferences, One Culture: A Report on the ASUC and Theory Meetings in Boston

Abstract

Those possessed of both the leisure and the patience to sit through the four full days of last winter's joint conference in Boston were privileged to witness two kinds of events: events of musical significance and events of historical import. Of incontrovertible significance, from the standpoint of one interested in new music, were the many and varied programs of works by members of the American Society of University Composers, presented during that society's Eleventh Annual Conference, held at and under the auspices of the New England Conservatory on February 26-29, 1976. On the other hand, the National Conference on Music Theory, held on February 29-March 1, immediately following the ASUC conference and with the cooperation of the music department at MIT, is to be celebrated as marking the emergence of a new force in our musical life, that of music theory as an independent discipline. In a larger sense, these days in Boston were interesting precisely because of this pairing of conferences; the resulting commentary of each upon the other brings about a clearer perception of some of the trends to which the higher forms of musical activity in America are, for better or for worse, subject. For this reason, I think it proper to devote a part of this report to the expression of some tentative opinions, shaped in part by my experience in Boston, concerning the relationship of theory to composition. First, however, a brief account of both conferences seems in order. The ASUC conference was treated by its organizers as, primarily, an occasion for the performance of new works by member composers. A great volume and diversity of music was heard in the course of seven concerts. My most general impression was of widespread competence and seriousness of intent; a preponderance of works played bespoke of thoroughgoing professionalism, and hardly any seemed downright silly. To judge by what