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Dmitri Tymoczko Interview
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008. © Copyright 2004-2008 David Bruce
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C:T talks to composer Dmitri Tymoczko, whose The Story of Jazz will be performed by pianist Ivan Ilic at Carnegie's Weill Hall on June 23rd
Tell us something about your background.
I grew up playing rock guitar and a little bit of classical piano. I studied music and philosophy at Harvard, where all my teachers were atonal composers. For me, modernist music seemed like philosophy in disguise, so I thought I'd try the real thing. By the end of college, I'd gave up composition in favor of philosophy -- I knew I didn't want to write atonal music, but had no idea how to write tonal music that was intelligent and fresh. After a brief detour to Oxford University, where I got kicked out of the philosophy graduate program (for thinking outside the box), I landed at UC Berkeley, where I
dedicated myself to composition in earnest.
For me, the process of becoming a composer has involved a pretty heavy dose of theory. I believe that we really don't understand tonal music very well -- we think we do, but it's actually much more interesting and sophisticated than we think. So I've tried to ask myself very general theoretical questions -- e.g. what sorts of scales are musically useful? how can you combine harmony and counterpoint? -- that are directly useful for my composing. I find this really helps me out -- it frees me up, and keeps me from repeating the formulas of the past.
How did you start composing?
Good question. I have no idea. My first piece was written when I was about five, and was called "The Walking Dinosaur." It's pretty good -- white notes, then black notes, then white notes, with no triads anywhere. In high school I just started writing music -- very primitive stuff, but it got me started.
What drives your work, what are you passions?
First, I'm really inspired by music that combines intellectual rigor with genuine expressiveness -- Bach, Debussy, Charlie Parker ... All of these guys were incredible intellectuals, with an almost unfathomable understanding of musical possibilities, who also managed to create music that is really, really fun to listen to. Music like this provides a kind of rigorous pleasure that I can't get anywhere else. So I guess I'm naturally interested in seeing whether I can create some myself.
Second, I suppose I'm motivated by a kind of internal competitiveness. I want to write the best music I can possibly write, and to improve on my most recent piece. I suppose I'm like the runner who's always trying to improve on his previous time, just to see how fast he can go.
Interview by David Bruce © Copyright 2004-2008
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