M Pire Magazine sits down with John Winsor to
do an exclusive interview. Check it out
below:
1. Tell us about some of the awards you’re most proud of receiving.
I’m most pleased with my four Virginia Music Teachers Association (VMTA)
Awards. One is given each year. It’s a commission to write a piece for performance at VMTA’s annual conference. The contest is open to Virginia composers without regard to age, gender, etc. Scores are submitted anonymously, so
the only consideration is the music itself. Each year, a 3-judge panel of previous winners picks the new piece, so it represents peer recognition. Of course,
the Modern Music Festival 2000 Film Scoring Prize was also gratifying because
it was an international competition.
2. What process do you go through with composing music that you think might
not occur, or would probably occur differently, in the process of songwriting or
producing?
Songwriting tends to be homophonic with a melody on top and the other parts
providing chords and rhythmic support. I rely very heavily on counterpoint. The
entire texture is constructed from lines that interact with one another so that
there’s not one particular dominating line.
3. Do you tend to follow the “rules” of music theory when composing, or do
you go by what you feel works?
I don’t use common-practice harmony at all. I do have some rules of my own,
though. For the past twenty years or so, I’ve employed quartal harmony, which
is based on fourths instead of thirds. In that respect, my writing is influenced by
Paul Hindemith. I don’t write music that’s “in a key” in the traditional sense,
but there are briefly audible tonal centers. The last several pieces I’ve written
are in a style that I call “neoimpressionism” because, although the harmony
is quartal, the overall texture resembles works of Debussy and Ravel. For me,
the heart of composition is in development. The challenge is to let the music
unfold naturally. That requires letting the various lines within the texture all flow
individually while simultaneously supporting the overall texture. It’s not a new
principle. I learned it from the music of J. S. Bach. (Cont’d)
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