I thoroughly enjoyed Kiya Heartwood’s presentation in class on Tuesday! I thought she presented a new way of looking at the operas we have been studying, especially coming from a compositional approach. She pinpointed what I haven’t been able to articulate as clearly regarding music versus culture; the idea of listening to the music for the sake of listening music as apposed to listening to music for the sake of culture. Our society tends to put a premium on aesthetics, so a rock star could very well take a country tune and make it a rock hit. Does that mean it’s still a country song? I say a good song is a good song, but our culture has a tendency to create barriers that box us into categories, which was one of her reasons for having different websites for her different works. This leads me to another topic, her versatility as a composer and writer.
I’ll be honest, writing a simple poem or story is not one of my strong points. If I ever got the gumption up to attempt at writing an opera or a musical, I don’t think I would get past the first two lines of text. The ability to write lyrics that flow with the language and then set them to music seems impossible. Although I haven’t listened to all of Lying to the Sea Gypsy, the songs I did hear seemed cleverly written both musically and lyrically, especially since they catered to younger performers and incorporated adult humor. Additionally, her music was catchy and I can definitely see younger performers having fun doing this show and learning simutaneously. I then decided to You Tube her old band, Stealin’ Horses, and listen to those lyrics and style of writing. Here is the link to her band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4zoiuZH2TI After listening to this, it’s apparent that she has a knack for writing creative lyrics that flow with the music. I can’t even begin to express how fascinated I am by this. Yes, there have been many brilliant composers in the past, but many of them had a librettist. I realize that Kiya’s style versus Mozart’s is very different, but the fact that she can write lyrics and music is very impressive, especially since she said that she has “a lot of catching up to do.” So what! I realize I’m being rather emphatic about this, but it hits home for me. My boyfriend is part of a band, which has a rather eclectic make-up of five guys. The leader of the band/lead singer/drummer, writes all of the lyrics and music for them; more importantly he doesn’t read music, and he is a self taught drummer and guitarist. Two of the other guys don’t read music, even though one understands chord progressions by ear. Finally, the bass player and my boyfriend did their undergraduate degree together in jazz and classical performance. I guess what I find most intriguing is that the drummer/lead singer, the one who is untrained, heads it all up and it’s great! I’m not just saying the band is great because my boyfriend plays piano, I’m saying they are genuinely good and very musical. The music is catchy, but inventive and the lyrics are memorable but not overly simplified. Check it out: http://vimeo.com/7868453
I guess where I’m going with this is anyone has the ability to create music. It doesn’t matter what his or her background maybe. Personally, I think it is so cool that Green Day’s songs have been turned into a rock opera. I used to obsess over Green Day when I was in high school, so I was a bit skeptical about hearing their music in a different way. However, I was pleasantly surprised, which brings me back to Kiya’s comment about music versus culture. What I’m trying to get at is the idea that there are do many styles of music out there, all of which present their own challenges. Like Aaron said today in class, if Renée Fleming had sang her jazz songs well we would have loved it, however that is not the case. It doesn’t matter what style you may choose to identify with, just as long as you do it well!
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