Expert: David Froom - 2/27/2006

Question
Dear David,

    My name is Tim Herbold and I'm a highschool student in western Pennsylvania. My teacher, Mr. Shannon, had us create a question encyclopedia involving questions that we have to ask an expert to get an answer.Here's my question...
    Classical songs have the same names but they're all different songs made from different composers. Etude is a great example of this. I have learned four Etudes for guitar but they are all different by composition and by composer. Also, if you don't mind me asking, why do composers just have the song name be "Minuet in G minor"? Some songs do have official names like that but are also called different things. Thank You for your time. The encyclopedia we're making is due for materials in 3 to 4 days. I would appreciate a response by then. Thanks again.

                            Tim Herbold

Answer
Hello Tim,

There are no rules about what someone names a work of music.  Sometimes the name actually means something.  Etude, for example, is the French word for "study."  Usually, things called etude are works designed to study a particular technical problem.  Minuet is a dance with a particular meter and mood.  Works called minuet usually evoke something of the original dance.

The more generic names are Sonata (which just means "sounding piece").  But, over the years, we have come to expect certain properties of overall form from works called Sonatas.  Symphony just means a work played by an orchestra -- but once again, something called symphony usually has 3 or 4 movements, and each of those movements is of a particular tempo and mood.  Or there are generic names having to do with the size of the group -- duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet, nonet.  Larger than that, it is usally called something like chamber piece.  Once again, there are some expectations about movements and moods, but this is extremely variable.

When a composer uses such a generic name, he/she wants both to embrace the history of that name and to avoid any pictoral or programmatic associations.  

Composers of classical music also use descriptive titles.  Things like "Aftertones of Infinity,"  "The Afternoon of the Faun" are not at all unusual.  Some composers use descriptive titles exclusively.  Some use them sometimes.  Some use them almost never.  Some prefer humorous titles, like "The Joy of More Sextets,"  or "Pieces of Piano,"  or "Septet but Equal."

And, as you have noticed, sometimes things with generic names also have subtitle, descriptive names -- like the "Pastoral" Symphony, the "Surprise" Symphony, the "Tragic" Symphony.   

Finally, you can have a sort-of non-descriptive title that sounds sort-of descriptive, like "Notations," or Soundscapes," or these plus a roman numeral, like "Macrocosms I,"  Macrocosms II," etc.

So, as a composer who knows other composers, I can tell you that people do whatever they please.  If the work cries out for a descriptive name (and if the composer can think of a good one), then the composer uses one.  If the composer wants a non-descriptive title that avoids pictoral associations, the composer chooses something more generic.

Hope this helps,

David Froom