Selected Resources

National/International

Opportunities, information and resources for composers:

News, articles, essays, reviews and interviews:

Local

Information and articles on the arts in the Baltimore community:

The paper edition of the City Paper is published every Wednesday, and is available free of charge in boxes and establishments throughout the city.

Peabody

The following are free publications containing extensive information on performances by Peabody ensembles, as well as other musical events; most can be found on the table outside of the Preparatory Office:

Student and departmental recital programs, most free and open to the public, are posted on bulletin boards throughout the Leakin Hall building.

Composition Competitions

Competitions are a valuable way to garner recognition, as well as performances or monetary awards for your music. Some notable competitions open to pre-college students include the following; be sure to visit their websites for up-to-date information on eligibility and deadlines:

Licensing

Licensing is the means by which composers receive royalties for performances of their music, particularly useful for composers whose work is performed regularly in non-academic settings. The two most prominent American licensing organizations are:

  • ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Playwrights)
  • BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)

Music Festivals

Usually held during the summer months, festivals and conferences offer an opportunity to work with prominent composers and performers, as well as peers outside of one’s immediate environment. Some of the more prominent festivals with programs for pre-college students include:

Music Notation Software

Software for the preparation of musical scores and parts offers a professional means of presenting your work to teachers, performers, programs, festivals and competitions. The most prominent applications on the market are:

Both programs are available on several computers in the library and computing center at Peabody. Though computer-engraved work is appreciated for assignments and lessons, it is by no means a necessity. Also, bear in mind that composing primarily at the computer rather than by ear or at an instrument can be problematic, with respect to learning idiomatic writing and proper notation.

Reading

Reading about music can be a valuable complement to composition and music-making in general. A selected and introductory bibliography, including references and textbooks, follows below:

Samuel Adler, The Study of Orchestration

Bruce Adolphe, The Mind’s Ear

Leonard Bernstein, The Unanswered Question; Findings; Young People's Concerts

Thomas Benjamin, The Craft of Modal Counterpoint; Counterpoint in the Style of J.S. Bach; Techniques and Materials of Tonal Music (with Michael Horvit and Robert Nelson)

Alfred Blatter, Instrumentation and Orchestration

Peter Burkholder, Donald Grout, Claude Palisca, A History of Western Music

Aaron Copland, What to Listen for in Music; Music and Imagination

Johann Joseph Fux/Alfred Mann, The Study of Counterpoint

Paul Hindemith, Elementary Training for Musicians

Kent Kennan, Counterpoint

Joseph Kerman, Listen; Opera as Drama

Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne, Tonal Harmony

Walter Piston, Orchestration

Gardner Read, Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice

Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century

Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim, Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society

Charles Rosen, Sonata Forms; The Classical Style

Stanley Sadie, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Arnold Schoenberg, Fundamentals of Musical Composition

Nicolas Slonimsky, Lexicon of Musical Invective

Michael Steinberg, The Symphony; The Concerto

Kurt Stone, Music Notation in the Twentieth Century

Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music; Conversations and Commentaries (with Robert Kraft)

Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents

 

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