About Steven L. Rosenhaus Expertise Areas of interest: Classical composition, writing musical theater (including music, lyrics, libretti), songwriting (pop, rock, blues, folk, etc.); music theory; orchestration; arranging. Also: music publishing and related topics.
Experience Composer/arranger with over 100 original works and arrangements in currently in print; publishers include E.F. Kalmus, Masters Music, Music-Print Productions, Theodore Presser, etc. Works have been performed throughout the U.S. and Europe by the United States Navy Band, the U.S. Naval Academy Band, violinist Florian Meyer, the Dresden Sinfonietta conducted by Milko Kersten, pianist Laura Leon, the Meridian String Quartet, the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet, clarinetist Guido Arbonelli, etc. Off-Broadway musical "Critic" (1988) ran 41 performances to good reviews. Co-author, with Allen Cohen, "Writing Musical Theater" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Also performing singer/songwriter: was in the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players, 1997-2000 (CD:"Blues Spoken Here" available at CDBaby); solo performer since 2000 (CD:"A Man Like Me" available at CDBaby, iTunes, etc.). Classical works and songs recorded on the Capstone, Richarson, Music for a G'Day, and MPP labels; available through CDBaby and/or iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Composition at New York University; have taught composition and other subjects at NYU since 1992, including "Introduction to Music Publishing and Printing" (which I created for NYU's Music Business program). Also Adjunct Assistant Professor at Nassau Community College, teaching songwriting, folk music, history of rock, and other subjects. Currently creating a series of performance etudes for the U.S. Navy School of Music, coordinating them with the School's music theory, ear training, and performance instruction programs.
Organizations ASCAP, MENC, NARAS, Music Theory Society, College Music Society, plus several others in music education, composition, and theory.
Publications "Writing Musical Theater" by Allen Cohen and Steven L. Rosenhaus (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Article in Strings Magazine, May 2007, on my string quartet "Strange Loops."
Education/Credentials Ph.D.- New York University
M.A. - Queens College (CUNY)
B.A. - Queens College (CUNY)
Question I am currently working with a drummer in my classroom and we have a musical term that is eluding us. What is the term for layering in parts and textures in a piece?
Answer Hi D&S,
It's tricky answering your question, as you haven't accurately described what it is you are both doing. I'll give you a few terms with my take on what they mean, and you can sort it out from there:
COMPOSITION: A no-brainer, I know, but if you are both creating the music from scratch (that is, the music is not based on any other music), then whatever it is you are doing, it would be called composition.
ARRANGING: This is sort of composing with someone else's ideas. If you are adding things to something one (or both) of you already wrote (or if it's someone else's music entirely but you're doing things to it), then you're arranging.
ORCHESTRATION: This is just one part of composition AND arranging, that is, it is the scoring of musical ideas for specific instruments.
And here are some textural terms you might find useful:
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MONOPHONY: One voice or instrument playing a melodic line without any accompaniment. Or two or more voices and/or instruments performing exactly the same musical line at the same time, either at the same pitch (that is, in unison) or in octaves.
HETEROPHONY: Two or more voices performing essentially the same line, but not exactly the same way.
HOMOPHONY: Two or more parts performing the same rhythms but not the same lines.
POLYPHONY: Two or more independent musical lines.
