Are melodies unique? | Answering Your Questions | Part 4

[@mvmarchiori]

Music(and other arts) should not be made to impress academics. It's main goal is to communicate with the soul, with the heart. Loved the presentation :)

[@mjnyc8655]

It seems that Ms. Deutscher has added lecturing to her repertoire of abilities. Bravo! This lecture is reminiscent of Leonard Bernstein's televised musical lectures in the fifties and sixties.

[@louisegogel7973]

And such a fun, interesting, and entertaining way of lecturing! Anyone would be inspired to learn history, music, and social interactions just from this most extensive educational answer session!

[@cardinalflower6959]

Yes! I was just thinking the same thing (being old enough to remember the televised Young People's Concerts)!

[@yahyamhirsi]

@@cardinalflower6959 I’m defintely not as old. But I watched every recording of these lectures.

[@Karen-ul9hd]

Oh dear! Not original, then? :)

[@jerryglazman260]

That was my thought exactly. If she ever (heaven forbid!) decides to give up composing, she should teach.

[@timanderson9115]

Finally, an intelligent composer who is not confined by others rules. Alma write what you want and I will love it.

[@KennyBentley7]

Yes, and she's so young, too. Young and brilliant.

[@louisegogel7973]

🎼✨💖🎶✨🎵🌟

[@ryanwillings6392]

Love her. I’m just an amateur musician but everything she says is so enlightening. Love hearing her play too

[@alexhusko]

Such an old, timeless and wise soul channeled through a modern era. I’m beyond impressed with you Alma

[@ragingsithmaster]

Thank God inspiration is still allowed. 😊 Also that composers have always been allowed to build from one another's works.

[@elisabethm9655]

Oh my goodness! What a revealing expose on the place of inspiration in composition and creativity. As I was told when someone blatantly copied a work I had created ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’… in other words, there is no harm borrowing and improving a beautiful piece…indeed, all ‘originals’ are the products of divine inspiration and the source of that is, well, a bit beyond us all - it is truly Divine. Thank you!❤️

[@dalennia6803]

Gut recherchiert und brilliant vorgetragen! Es macht immer Freude, Dir zuzuhören, liebe Alma.

[@louisegogel7973]

Das ist ja Wahr, immer eine Freude Alma zuzuhören!!

[@Nonconform14]

Alma ,you are better than many professors at any universities,really!

[@DanCalloway]

Alma, your intelligent and quite impressive answers to very deep and worthy questions is astonishing. You keep lifting the bar on what it means to be a very successful and talented composer. Keep up the great work!!!

[@2Hearts3]

Oh, my gosh-- i am completely blown away by this wonderful young composer/conductor/pianist/violinist/teacher/philosopher. She is amazingly gifted and a gift to us to hear. 🏆🎶👏

[@erikpeterson25]

Alma you are an original gem....you made my day with this surprise musical education even to the point of tears Thank you so much for your ORIGINALITY 🙂💕

[@andreashennemann597]

Ja!!!! Alma ist immer wieder unglaublich, kaum fassbar. Extrem eloquent, geistreich, unterhaltsam, humorvoll, liebreizend, intelligent, aristokratisch... und was mir bis dato nicht klar war: Eine versierte Musikwissenschaftlerin! Was kann diese junge, überaus talentierte Dame eigentlich nicht?!? OMG.

[@lepaintre123]

​@@andreashennemann597 Very beautiful analysis Alma. Happy to see you again

[@brendamullins1641]

Oh my goodness, how much I enjoyed listening to your composition lesson. You are better than all those Uni professors who stressed the students out composing their ,,unique,, work.

[@XERTZ1925]

Great advise! No need to invent the wheel, just innovate its composition!

[@lrichardson1090]

Hi Alma, I have been following your career in music for a few years now. I’m not a musician. I don’t know much about music. Yet, listening to you play the piano or the violin is stunningly beautiful! Listening to you speak to a common question about whether we should be concerned if we make melodies inspired by musicians past was amazing! Your a fantastic teacher! I don’t even really listen to a lot of music but I listen to yours! So, THANK YOU for sharing your gifts and inspirations with us!

[@georgeridewood9503]

Thank you Alma for explaining so well how music through the ages can borrow ideas and thus appear so similar, or even the same! Have been a subscriber to your KZbin channel for a few years now and really enjoy whatever you produce. In addition to composing, conducting and playing, I can see teaching and possibly even, a role as an expert witness in music plagiarism trials being on the cards.

[@leoestrada1213]

Anything I've heard from you since you were a child, has held my heart with joy, whether you were interviewed or talked about your music and needles to say that in you, lives a lighted spirit that shines brightly in this world..... And your music is a promise of hope to all.. Well done!!

[@louisegogel7973]

✨💖💛🌟

[@JohnMcIlroyTax]

Same!

[@smoothsilk47]

Same too, I totally love Alma!

[@carinapencet]

You describe it so good Alma and you are so right with it👍🏻😊 Very well researched.

[@tiredthesbian]

I’m particularly fond of every single horror film score that uses the dies irae motif, as well as hearing it in musical theatre-the main melody of each Sweeney Todd chorus, and one brief little phrase in the song “Monster” from the Broadway version of Frozen come to mind. I even heard it worked into the score of a spy movie I watched the other night! So instantly recognizable and instantly sets the tone.

[@lepaintre123]

Very beautiful analysis Alma. Happy to see you again

[@mitsos8919]

Thanks Alma! You free our spirit!

[@bhami]

Your presentation is both delightful and informative; thanks! Sadly, the question of legal copyright often rears its ugly head re: works written in the past 75 or 100 years or so (depending on which national laws apply). And so we see famous cases such as George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" ruled as derivative from "He's So Fine" (performed by the Chiffons).

[@luc5798]

It's very interesting, but when you are the one who explains it, it's really captivating!

[@deve6641]

Thank you for a wonderful video. And I don't think I'm the only one desiring to hear you speak in other languages for the pure joy of hearing such a wonderful accent in multiple languages!

[@pjmoseley243]

I wish you all the success you wish for yourself. with love and best wishes from England, I have followed you from the early days. from an old veteran of the British Army. peace.

[@frozenhorse8695]

I am truly grateful and humbled, that great composers came before you, to show you the light. On tuesday the 1st of march, I came to Salzburg from Denmark, to witness your opera Cinderella. It was absoultely breathtaking, and i was moved to tears. No words can describe what i felt. Thank you Alma, you and your lovely family, are beyond amazing.

[@Nooticus]

Must have been incredible!! Congratulations!

[@kkuugglleesskkooeerr]

What a coincidence - I also came from Denmark to Salzburg to hear Cinderella on the same day!

[@caramäleon]

Dear Alma, I want you to teach my music class. You have such have such an entertaining way to answer the most difficult questions and I could listen to you talking about music for hours and hours. Thank you for doing what you are doing!

[@raycornford283]

Fascinating and insightful, as always, Alma. Bravo!

[@alberteinstein9176]

You're very enjoyable to listen to. You're very clear and you articulate with great details. Thomas Dutkiewicz USA

[@epiczeven6378]

very wise Alma, love your melodies work. Even your talking voice is super musical and dynamic, perfect for storytelling :)!

[@dfvid]

This is fun! The random appearance of a pixelated Schubert at 4:25 made my day. Thanks.

[@didigoldman]

das letzte beispiel ist sooo schön erklärt. danke alma.

[@MaximilianMKGill]

It’s very impressive how intelligent and controlled she is.

[@SamGralla]

Lovely, thank you. Sometimes I wonder how much of the borrowing was unintentional. It happens to me all the time, because I have such a poor memory. Once I spent some months composing a piano trio (planning to have it performed at my wedding, in fact), before I noticed the middle section theme was pretty much identical to the Strauss song "Morgen". I had heard it only once or twice before, so as I composed, it felt like I was slowly inventing it, as I recalled bits and pieces from my subconscious memory. Well, now I have a piano trio I call "Morning celebration (after Strauss)" or something...

[@Parketak]

Great video, thanks for encouraging young composers! This examples you gave, are new discovery for me!! I'm looking forward for the next video! ♥️🎵🎶 Perfect job 👍🏻

[@cardinalflower6959]

Fascinating! Thank you, dear Alma, and best wishes in all your endeavors.

[@alanmunch5779]

Fascinating, Alma! You are clearly learning so much, and you have a wonderful way of communicating your thoughts and conclusions. I look forward to more videos like this one!

[@christopherosborne2453]

I've said it before. you are a great teacher. thank you Alma that was brilliant.

[@sofieada]

I felt captivated, thank you Alma ! Love from France

[@itsme-le1bg]

It's delightful listening to you and your music. I'm enriching my understanding of music so much. You could be 6, 16, 60. You transcend time. You have taped into the unbounded laws of nature from where all music come from. You are music. The point you make so eloquently to me is that humanity always evolves from the traditions of the past and takes it as inspiration for the future. It's the geniuses that create something new from it. Too much of our current generation misses that. Carry on❤❤🙏🙏

[@moviebod]

Clearly Alma, you exceed the computing powers of all computers. That was also very interesting about Mozart and the Magic Flute.

[@richardwaugaman1505]

You are an inspiration! It won't be long before your approach triumphs over corrupt musical modernism. You mention the comparison with novels. Great literature has always been a conversation across the centuries with prior writers. Modern theoreticians of creative arts have gone off the rails in destructive ways. Academics, unfortunately, sometimes act as though they have the last words, when they ought to acknowledge the superiority of creative people such as you.

[@LiloUkulele]

Just lovely...came for the theory, stayed for the history. Can't wait to spring Mozart's little secret on my teacher. Love your channel; wonderful entertaining and insightful lecture.

[@ChadBarksdale1]

You know a truth is being shared when it crosses disciplines and continues to hold. I wish some of my teachers in all my education could have provided this quality of instruction and insight. Imagine where the world would be today if this level of expression and sharing was possessed by those who haunt our current learning institutions. They should all be required to watch these before they are ever allowed to influence another young mind. You are beautiful and inspiring.

[@hugobodiam4065]

Well done Alma As a footnote; Mozart wrote impulsively, in a private letter to his sister , which certainly wasn't intended to be taken seriously. Mozart was very fond of his Italian friends. I'm sure Mozart would regret many of the things he wrote in his letters and would be appalled that they are so freely available for all to see.

[@vocalchords3609]

Simply wonderful in every way - thank goodness Alma has a lovely sharp wit to accompany her musicianship! Thank you for a really stunning take on our challenges as artists one and all!

[@opucam]

Uma bela harmonia, com sua frequência, eleva nossas almas ao céu 🇧🇷

[@Fuzzer227]

Thank you for being Alma and for sharing so much! All the best to you always!

[@JohnMcIlroyTax]

Super glad you are paying NO attention to these music professors! Even better that you can explain it in such an interesting an entertaining way. BTW... LOVED your recent concert in Toronto!

[@LeonidKorelstein]

Absolutely wonderful video, Alma! By the way, for scientific articles and thesis such computer systems do exist (maybe your parents even use them - I myself used them for my articles). You cannot imagine what an incredible number of partly borrowed texts or even completely stolen thesises they revealed (especially in Russia)

[@mariannepagliaccina]

Oh what an interesting video. I could listen for hours to your explanations and comparaisons. It gives us a new view to music. Thank you Alma

[@kabernat]

Thank you Alma for giving us these great examples of how Mozart and Clementi and others would hear a piece but add their own little nuances and style to it. You are so right, everything is copied from before and we can kill our creativity looking for a melody that has never been heard before. Thank you for putting an end to this myth!

[@autumnleaves2766]

Very enjoyable look at how composers are inspired by earlier works. Alma is an excellent speaker and her level of musical knowledge is incredible for one so young. Lecturing about music could be another string to Alma's bow if she ever needs a break from composing and performing. We're all eagerly awaiting Alma's future compositions, starting with the new opera that is being premiered next March.

[@z.siblings9055]

Thank you for answering these questions so wisely! You’re definitely a big inspiration for me

[@carolsmith9478]

Thank you for adding beauty into this world by sharing your love of musical compositions.

[@tiffcat1100]

Loving your new piano pieces book for children, it’s right at my level (am 65!) and love the little comments, descriptions, instructions, fingerings and cute colours as well of course the beautiful music (also the photos and drawings) 🥰

[@ptakjones]

Love this! I recently had an eye opening experience about this even for works as great as Beethoven's piano sonatas. I always thought they were so unique and new for the time but if you go through Haydn's piano sonatas (works that Beethoven no doubt studied) you see striking similarities in the construction and motifs. It is painfully clear that Beethoven, while a genius in his own right, had his own influences just like anyone else. If he had not been able to mimic his teacher then the world would have missed out on some of the best piano music ever written. Thank you for this video though! It's always great to have permission from someone so accomplished to release our creativity from unnecessary "dilutions", as you say.

[@ItIsJustJudy]

I think Alan Hovhaness might have been inspired by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Listen to Hovhaness’ Mysterious Mountain and Vaughn Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Of course the latter is based on Tallis’ melody!

[@TimothyZhou0]

Nice, couldn't agree more! I'd also like to point out the striking similarity between the opening of Mozart's 25th symphony and Beethoven's 1st piano sonata :)

[@NomeDeArte]

Love this Q&A, thank you Alma and everyone involved to take time and made it. Best wishes from Argentina!

[@nolebuc1]

A fascinating exposition on composing. Thank you for sharing your genius and musical gifts that brighten the world.

[@paulmoakes6981]

Just love your account of Mozart’s view and analysis of Clementi for his sister… you perfectly portrayed his attitude and jealousy/envy. Excellent!

[@antonio_vendramini]

We live in a quite difficult time. Those who are inclined to create are unfortunately criticized by: those who believe that nowadays no one can create something on the same level as in the past ("it's not as good as ..."), and those who believe that what is created today is too similar to what have been already produced (mainly in the style: "it's too much like..."). I think it is also the reason why many want to create something new, something we never heard of, even if it's not that good.

[@erikbrodnax7050]

Again, Ms. Deutscher finds a way to bring hope to those of us who appreciate classical music. In her polish and panache we find a tonic to the incessant naysayers who suggest classical music has no postmodern place in the world. With her wit and charm and spectacular compendium of musical knowledge we are reminded that this music will outlive us all with her own compositions as standard bearer. So, what's next Ms. Deutscher? We're all waiting! Thank you for your generosity in sharing your gifts!

[@matiass1150]

Loving the lecture video consept!!

[@MusicaAngela]

I love your advice for students with professors who look down on them for composing music that may resemble styles of the past. I wish I had had the courage to tell my professors (back in the 1970’s) “Thank God Mozart, Schubert and Strauss didn’t have to study with you!”

[@tamara4piano]

Thank you for the interesting glimpse into music history and the question of originality!

[@mka46479]

What a delight listening to this lecture. Even for someone who does not understand music much. 😊

[@kristianbjrnjensen5388]

Oh .. I am so relieved. I myself have put at least three small pieces together, which borrow close by from other tunes.

[@singalongwithsillysongs9804]

Long ago ,as a first year music student at Boston University, I took harmony, counterpoint and introduction to basic compositional forms . The usual stuff on writing inventions ,fugues, rondos, sonata forms, setting poems for songs etc. The second year I started a class with Gardner Reed, the composer in residence at Boston University. The first day of class he told us that we were now in the twentieth century and we must stop composing as though we were still in the nineteenth. I dropped the class.

[@MishaSkripach]

Beautiful music should be back in 22 century!

[@johnbethell1952]

I would not want to miss one of your brilliant videos

[@jmachadok]

This was brilliant even for a non-musician like me.

[@Gartenglueck-Niederrhein]

Wie wunderbar erklärt. Da könnte sich mancher Dozent eine dicke Scheibe abschneiden. Bravo.

[@christianeyazdani1340]

Liebe Alma, wie wunderbar hell und elegant Du doch hin- und herspazierst, durch das weite Reich Deiner Muttersprache, der Musik...

[@leoambgut4461]

W. Mozart took inspiration from the Thema Regium in his Sonata in C minor K457. The theme was given to J.S. Bach by Frederick II. Composers always took melodies they knew, like plainchant and popular songs of their time, and used them in their compositions. For example: Josquin - Missa Pange Lingua (chant: Pange Lingua Gloriosi) J.S. Bach - the Quodlibet from the Goldberg variations (various German folksongs) Haydn - Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser (Croatian folk song: Stal se jesem) Mozart - Requiem Introit "Te decet hymnus" section (Meine seele erhebt den Herren/German Magnificat) Brahms - Wiegenlied (ländler: Du moanst wohl. The sheet music for this can be found in this paper: Brahms's "Wiegenlied" and the Maternal Voice)

[@vicson1222]

Siempre admiración y respeto por tu maravilloso talento. Siempre escucho tu música 🎼 y la coloco en el equipo de sonido. Es genial 😊.

[@michaelcortis2713]

What a wonderful and talented young lady you really are! So intelligent and marvellous. I love your creativity and boldness. In three words You are amazing!!

[@birbamour6]

Another example, but with a pop musician: Eric Carmen seemed to admire Rachmaninov as he had based the first and second verses of "All By Myself" off Rach's 2nd piano concerto, 2nd movement, as well as the chorus of "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" off of the beginning of Rach's 2nd symphony, 3rd movement. The trouble was, Eric Carmen got into copyright issues as Rachmaninov's works were not actually in the public domain yet, and Carmen had not credited Rachmaninov. Carmen had to pay the Rachmaninov Estate a fraction of what he had earned on the songs and albums AND had to credit Rachmaninov. To this day, if you go to Eric Carmen's official music videos or search up the lyrics to "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", you will find the songwriters credited: Eric Carmen, Sergei Rachmaninov. There are many more examples of pop musicians using classical melodies as ideas for their songs, and it really shows how amazing classical melodies are! Thank you for this video, Alma; I like to compose and have taken composition courses and I now feel a bit better about some of my pieces sounding a bit like Mozart or Beethoven. Clearly I love those composers and am inspired by them!

[@YvonneViator]

Brilliantly put! Agree totally!

[@chaplainmattsanders4884]

Brilliant musician & communicator. Impressive!

[@danielezekiel97]

Thank you Alma, I have listened to alot of lectures in the past , even from Yale university, and yours are far better . BTW. Even John Williams Star Wars was inspired by Gustav Holst "Mars" the planets, but he did his own thing with it, and thank god he did.

[@mattmartian1658]

What I find fascinating is when I hear a melody thats been in my head many many years later in someone else's song. Its like having a deja vu moment.

[@myhighmusicworld8036]

You're a genius girl! Thank you for yours videos, operas and creativity! Dvoŕak has interesting melodies - 1) main theme of 4th part of Symphony №9 "From the New World", played trumpets and French horns - nobilmente, maestoso; 2) main theme of Dvoŕak's Cello Concert, played cello in the start. There are a little bit the same in most intervals - only rythm is different.

[@tttyyycc4176]

Finally, you uploaded another video. I've been looking forward to seeing you again so bad!!! 😄

[@dimosorchestral6338]

What a bright beacon of light.

[@milakohen630]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 you are amazing!!!! So educational and simple ❤

[@Ian-ky5hf]

You are so intelligent and incredible. I admire your music very much.

[@camilapazw.b.8882]

Cuando comencé mis primeros clases de piano, el profesor me solicitó que realizara una pequeña composición en Do Mayor (para ir viendo mis avances) resulta que estuve toda una tarde realizando un gran esfuerzo traspasando unas pocas notas al papel a medida que las practicaba en el piano de lo que me parecía era una melodía más o menos agradable. Cuando se la envié ocurrió algo muy curioso... resultó ser muy similar (por no decir igual) a una que había estado escuchando hace unos días de su propia composición de música para piano, era un CD que el me había regalado para estudiar junto con partituras. Esta composición que repliqué (totalmente inconsciente y sin darme cuenta) fue una de las que más me había gustado. Fue divertido ver cómo hice un gran esfuerzo por escribir algo que ya estaba hecho y además ahí conmigo! Asíque comprendo totalmente lo que Alma nos comparte (guardando las proporciones) y nos explica con tanta genialidad y perfección ✨además de cierto humor☺️. Todo proviene de algo que existió antes en todas las artes, sin excepción, tal cual nos explica Alma (la pintura, la literatura, la arquitectura, la escultura, etc) ❤️🎶🎹✒️📜🎀

[@motty2707]

Very interasting and sweet. Thank you alma. Motty. Tel aviv

[@aidanmfeeneycomposer8737]

A very obvious example of a composer borrowing from another composer is John Williams' very famous Star Wars opening theme, which, if you transpose it to B Major, is almost exactly the same as the title theme from Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score for Kings Row. Also, Johan de Meij's Fourth Symphony "Sinfonie der Lieder" contains numerous direct quotes from almost every single Mahler symphony. Another crazy one: in Patrick Doyle's score for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the track named "Voldemort" begins almost note for note like the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Seventh Symphony "Sinfonia Antarctica!" And yes, as a composer myself, I have done this several times. For example, the second movement of my Thirteenth Piano Sonata contains a passage that is very inspired by the main theme from the first movement of Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto.

[@jefffisher1045]

Alma, your storytelling inspired me to subscribe, please post often, thank you

[@beaumuse7890]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and experience! It is truly inspiring. I would love if you could discuss exercises for composition such as partimenti. All the best!

[@johnharvie2569]

It has been said that there is nothing new under the sun, but each of us is a new being albeit made up and influenced by what came before. Perhaps rather than worrying about "originality" artists should decide what is their aim. If to satisfy themselves alone, then create anything you feel like. If you want others to hear or see your work, remember that most of us are only equipped with human ears and eyes. So, if it takes 2 hours of aesthetic world salad to make us understand, then I would consider the work a failure. Don't be angry with me but I have been listening to works by Galina Ustvolskaya. I thought that there could be nothing like it but then I came across some pieces by Bela Bartok which predate Ustvolskaya. Which goes to prove your point.

[@jazzstandardman]

John Adams' work for orchestra Slonimsky's Earbox was clearly influenced by Stravinsky. Alma, what's your favorite Stravinsky piece?

[@colinm5481]

You're brilliant. I love you.

[@GStolyarovII]

What a wonderfully erudite, structured, and incisive presentation by Alma! Many of us have the intuition that complete “originality” is not really attainable; we are all inspired subtly, sometimes without even being consciously aware of it, by what we have heard in the past. We all inhabit the same reality and recombine its elements in interesting ways; that is the essence of creativity - but if others have produced works of beauty in the past, and there are some overarching characteristics that such works of beauty share, then we are likely to arrive at them as well in the search for beauty. Alma has an impressive extent of historical awareness to show (and let us hear quite clearly) how this tendency manifests itself in the creations of some of the greatest composers of all time. A thought: perhaps it was the excessive insistence on complete (though unattainable) “originality” which led to the proliferation of much more dissonant compositional styles starting about a century ago. There are many more dissonant combinations of sounds than consonant ones; thus, it is easier to be “original” with more dissonances - even though it is harder for the listener to understand precisely how one is being “original”. Better than being original, however, is to be inspiring and uplifting - to bring purpose, refinement, and joy with one’s creations. Thank you, Alma, for that.

[@l.a.415]

Thank you for this important statement! Being similar to other melodies doesn't make a piece of music less genuine. It's the contrary. The music has always lived from variations, hommages and developements. Variations are so fascinating, especially those on the "follia" theme that is an endlessly inspiring ground. Mendelssohn's style lives because of the inspiration he got from Bach. There's the hidden beginning of Dvořák's Cello concerto in the first symphony by Brahms. There were no 1812 ouverture without the Marseillaise. And the example I love the most, is the side theme in the first movement of Beethoven's a major cello sonata which begins like the aria "Es ist vollbracht" in the Saint John's Passion. The exact same melody for about three bars. But different key, different instrument and it continues differently. I have no idea if Beethoven knew that he copied this melody. I just love it. Mendelssohn copied it in a totally different way in his oratorio "Elijah" (Es ist genug). It's not that much the melody there but the structure of the aria and the similarity of the texts as a hommage to Bach. And it is so much fun to find all those little tresures of similarity in the great works. They are most often a sign of appreciation (Mozart's example left behind).

[@danielezekiel97]

You would be a fabulous TV Presented to present Classical music to the world. I would place a bet that. you will

[@Aurelia2147]

Thank you for this amazing composition/music history lesson. If you would hold a lecture at my university I will make sure not to miss it!