“The Analytical Engine might act upon other things besides number, were objects found whose mutual fundamental relations could be expressed by those of the abstract science of operations, and which should be also susceptible of adaptations to the action of the operating notation and mechanism of the engine… Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.” ShouldMightActionFoundSoundNumbersPiecesObjectsExpressionDegreesRelationHarmonyFundamentalsMusicalInstanceOperationsAbstractComplexityMutualEnginesMechanismCompositionAdaptationSusceptibleSupposingMutual FundMusical Composition Author:Ada Lovelace
“Freud believed that our dreams sometimes recapitulate a speech, a comment we've heard or something that we've read. I always had compositions in my dreams. They would be a joke, a piece of a novel, a witticism or a piece of dialogue from a play, and I would dream them. I would actually express them line by line in the dream. Sometimes after waking up I would remember a snatch or two and write them down. There's something in me that just wants to create dialogue.” WantWritingTwoSometimesPlayDreamWould BeRememberLinesNovelPiecesHeardSpeechJokesWake UpDialogueCommentWakingCompositionOur Dreams Author:David Mamet
“Regardless of its purpose, the humpback-whale song is the most complex piece of nonhuman composition on earth. Whether it's art, prayer, or booty call, the humpback song is an amazing thing to experience firsthand, and I suspect that even once the science of it is put to bed, it will remain, as long as they sing, magic.” LongArtEarthPurposeSongPrayerPiecesMagicBedComplexesSuspectsCompositionAmazing ThingsWhalesBootyHumpback Whales Author:Christopher Moore
“My mother is a good woman - a very good woman - and I am, I think, not quite all criminality, but we do not pull together. I am a piece of machinery which, not understanding, my mother winds up the wrong way, setting all the wheels of my composition going in creaking discord.” ThinkingWayTogetherMotherUnderstandingPiecesWindVery GoodSettingSettingsWheelsCompositionMachineryWrong WayDiscordGood WomanCriminality Book:My Brilliant Career Source: My Brilliant Career
“When we look at a painting, listen to a piece of music, read a novel, or watch a movie we are taking in the artist's composition. The composition is the totality of the work.” LooksArtistWatchesNovelPiecesPaintingCompositionTotality Author:Mike Svob
“I heard Joby Talbot's Hovercraft piece for orchestra and felt its immediate physical impact - visceral, unsettling, hungry and direct. These short five minutes became our keystone to unlocking a strangely seductive score that tensions the aggressive force of the White Stripes with the enigmatic beauty of Talbot's own compositions.” ForceFeltWhiteFivePiecesHeardMinutesDirectImpactHungryTensionScoreAggressiveCompositionOrchestraFive MinutesSeductiveStripesVisceralKeystonesEnigmaticUnlockingWhite StripesHovercrafts Author:Wayne McGregor
“From building a fire one can learn something about artistic composition. If you use only small kindling and large logs, the fire will quickly eat up the small pieces but will not become strong enough to attack the large ones. You must supply a scale of sizes from the smallest to the largest. The human eye also will not make its way into a painting or building unless a continuum of shapes leads from the small to the large, from the large to the small.” IfsWayHumansEnoughUseEyeStrongFirePiecesBuildingPaintingShapesSizeScalesArtisticSmallestCompositionStrong EnoughContinuumHuman EyesSmall PiecesKindling Author:Rudolf Arnheim
“I do very, very, very simple, skimpy doodles, nothing too committed. Because people tend to fall in love if they like it - if you color it in and they like it, then they want exactly those colors, even if they were just indications. You really have to do it as simple as possible so they can concentrate on the idea and composition. And then all of the energy goes into making the final piece. And the final piece can be anything - it can be a drawing, a painting, a collage - and usually, it's obvious what that should be. Usually, the idea dictates what medium you use.” PeopleIfsWantShouldIdeasUseFallEnergySimplePiecesColorPaintingFalling In LoveFinalsCommittedObviousDrawingMediumsCompositionIndicationCollages Author:Dave McKean
“The micro-compositions are the pieces themselves, but the macro-composition is the whole set of them and how it moves from track to track and how the titles relate to one another, for example. Always when I do records like this of a selection of instrumental pieces - the titles, to me, are very important.” ImportantWholeMovingRecordsPiecesExampleTrackRelateTitlesCompositionSelectionMacro Author:Brian Eno
“Movies are pieces of film stuck together in a certain rhythm, an absolute beat, like a musical composition. The rhythm you create affects the audience.” TogetherFilmCertainAudiencePiecesBeatsAbsolutesMusicalStuckRhythmCompositionMusical Composition Author:John Carpenter
“The instrumental pieces are compositions, certainly, although that's not the language that I instinctively use. They're not scored, and arrangements are often arrived at collaboratively. I always choose to play with people whose input I desire.” PeoplePlayUseDesireLanguagePiecesCompositionArrangementsInput Author:David Grubbs
“The conception, composition, practice, and performance of a piece of music can blossom in a single moment.” MomentsPracticePiecesPerformancesConceptionCompositionSingle Mom Author:Stephen Nachmanovitch
“Do not think I do not realise what I am doing. I am making a composition using the following elements: the winter beach; the winter moon; the ocean; the women; the pine trees; the riders; the driftwood; the shells; the shapes of darkness and the shapes of water; and the refuse. These are all inimical to my loneliness because of their indifference to it. Out of these pieces of inimical indifference, I intend to represent the desolate smile of winter which, as you must have gathered, is the smile I wear.” ThinkingWaterDarknessPiecesTreeLonelinessShapesMoonElementsOceanWinterFollowingRefuseBeachIndifferenceRealisingShellsCompositionRidersDesolatePine TreesDriftwoodWinter Moon Author:Angela Carter
“Another factor is that in terms of the original compositions, this is our strongest year yet. Everyone wrote a fantastic piece and everyone really had a greater sense of how to write for this band -- not only for this particular instrumentation, but for these particular players. Each year, the reality is getting closer to the ideal of a collective.” WritingYearsRealityTermGreaterPiecesPlayerParticularBandIdealsOriginalsFactorsFantasticCollectivesStrongestCompositionInstrumentation Author:Joshua Redman