Salvatore Hammerwell

Theemile wrote:

dscott8 wrote:There is almost no information on Hammerwell -- certainly not enough to draw comparisons to other composers. We have two titles (Salute to Spring and Lament For Beauty Lost), some brief, vague descriptions of the music, and the fact that Raoul listened to Hammerwell in the prenatal tube. Insufficient data to form a conclusion. That said, if they ever get a movie/TV series off the ground, they'll need to commission a couple of works from a modern composer.

Worst of all, we really don't know what instruments Hammerwell composes for or are available in the Honorverse. What we think of a Symphony orchestra is less then 300 years old, and the iterations of instruments used to create modern "popular" music, are all less then 75 years. Who is to say what comprises an orchestra in 1900 pd or what is the standard "popular" band make-up, and what variance those instruments have had from today?

I know items like a cello and an upright bass, don't particuliarly travel well, and are space intensive - would they not make the transfer to a new world? Would a new instrument take their place? We really don't know.

We do know that they still have opera on Old Earth, but of course not what it consists of or sounds like, however seeing as it is Old Earth I would expect it to be similar to what we in the 21st century are familiar with.

What we in the 21st century are familiar with?

Was that Armide, Nozze di Figaro, Die Valkure, Madama Butterfly or Wozzek you had in mind?

George J. Smith wrote:

Theemile wrote:
Worst of all, we really don't know what instruments Hammerwell composes for or are available in the Honorverse. What we think of a Symphony orchestra is less then 300 years old, and the iterations of instruments used to create modern "popular" music, are all less then 75 years. Who is to say what comprises an orchestra in 1900 pd or what is the standard "popular" band make-up, and what variance those instruments have had from today?

I know items like a cello and an upright bass, don't particuliarly travel well, and are space intensive - would they not make the transfer to a new world? Would a new instrument take their place? We really don't know.

We do know that they still have opera on Old Earth, but of course not what it consists of or sounds like, however seeing as it is Old Earth I would expect it to be similar to what we in the 21st century are familiar with.

George J. Smith wrote:We do know that they still have opera on Old Earth, but of course not what it consists of or sounds like, however seeing as it is Old Earth I would expect it to be similar to what we in the 21st century are familiar with.

You mean something like Tommyor Jesus Christ Superstar? (JCS link is full soundtrack)

Keep in mind that the journey of the music of great composers is first "felt" and then seen (imagined) in the mind -- enjoyed by the soul, then composed and played. I would imagine that computers are still just a tool to reproduce music and not the rule. As applies to the greatest pieces like Hammerwell. Hammerwell is meant to be felt, as Honor did, with her soul. So I suspect, that Old Earth instruments are still pretty much a part of the, classical at least, scene. Especially considering that newer materials (woods and synthetics) are available that may produce a better (warmer) and even fuller sound. Music from the minds of great composers like Hammerwell already lose much in translation from mind to sheet -- further losing tonal quality (warmth) when digitally produced. A computer has no soul. Music is best composed in the mind, played by the heart and enjoyed by the soul.

Computers cannot achieve the soul of an orchestra playing. Computers cannot achieve the "heartbeat" of a band -- as of when one musician is playing a little offbeat, slower. With computers, everything is bang bang bang, exactly correct and perfectly on cue - which lacks the soul of professional bands and orchestras which captures the true essence and life of a composer's piece. Realities that IMO, would threaten the natural development of the Hammerwells of the future, if traditional instruments were to die.

Computers can only strive to reproduce what a masterful composer and professional orchestra has already created.

.

IKNOW that (caps deliberate). Which is why I used the word, not as a pun on his name.

Cheers, John

Louis R wrote:Elegaic derives from 'elegy', not Elgar.

Not that Elgar wasn't that, when he chose.

I'm more inclined to tie the stylistic description, such as it is, to the great romantics - Brahms or Dvorak, or even the Mighty Handful out of Russia.

John Prigent wrote:Edward Elgar, I'd think, writes what Hammerwell must sound like. 'Elegaic' was my thought about RFC's description of his music.

Cheers

John

Don't ignore Cats or Phantom. Wasn't paying enough attention, shouldn't have left them out.

Weird Harold wrote:

George J. Smith wrote:We do know that they still have opera on Old Earth, but of course not what it consists of or sounds like, however seeing as it is Old Earth I would expect it to be similar to what we in the 21st century are familiar with.

You mean something like Tommyor Jesus Christ Superstar? (JCS link is full soundtrack)

Weird Harold wrote:
You mean something like Tommyor Jesus Christ Superstar? (JCS link is full soundtrack)

or heaven help us all, Rocky Horror Picture Show?

Dauntless wrote:or heaven help us all, Rocky Horror Picture Show?

I wasn't thinking of "Cult Hits" but more a fusion of symphonic with hard rock instrumentation.

Transiberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo and much of their other work is more what I had in mind beyond the pioneering rock operas and broadway musicals like Phantom and Cats.

Manheim Steamroller does a lot of the same up-tempo arrangements. and Moody Blues pioneered much of the rock band-plus-symphony-orchestra genre.

They may not be "Classical" now, but they may well point the way to Hammerwell.

I actually picture it sounding more like Mason Bates http://www.masonbates.com/music/. His compositions are frequently performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He tends to blend electronica and symphonic composition. However it is next to impossible to know.

SimonZerafa wrote:Hi All,

Has DW or any of the co-authors ever indicated if Salvatore Hammerwell is modelled on any real composer?

Judging from the descriptions in the novels I would have to go with someone like Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Any word on whom DW el al might have had in mind?

In addition I heard that DW was not in the best health so I wish him well, if for no other reason that a selfish desire to see the HH Universe continue. Hopefully we will get a new HH universe book soon!

Kind Regards

Simon

Theemile wrote:

dscott8 wrote:There is almost no information on Hammerwell -- certainly not enough to draw comparisons to other composers. We have two titles (Salute to Spring and Lament For Beauty Lost), some brief, vague descriptions of the music, and the fact that Raoul listened to Hammerwell in the prenatal tube. Insufficient data to form a conclusion. That said, if they ever get a movie/TV series off the ground, they'll need to commission a couple of works from a modern composer.

Worst of all, we really don't know what instruments Hammerwell composes for or are available in the Honorverse. What we think of a Symphony orchestra is less then 300 years old, and the iterations of instruments used to create modern "popular" music, are all less then 75 years. Who is to say what comprises an orchestra in 1900 pd or what is the standard "popular" band make-up, and what variance those instruments have had from today?

I know items like a cello and an upright bass, don't particuliarly travel well, and are space intensive - would they not make the transfer to a new world? Would a new instrument take their place? We really don't know.

George J. Smith wrote:We do know that they still have opera on Old Earth, but of course not what it consists of or sounds like, however seeing as it is Old Earth I would expect it to be similar to what we in the 21st century are familiar with.

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We are familiar with several distinctly different "arrangement" periods of classical music. We do not know which period in which Hammerwell fits...

The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period. The major time divisions of classical music are as follows: the early music period, which includes the Medieval (500–1400) and the Renaissance (1400–1600) eras; the Common practice period, which includes the Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1750–1820), and Romantic eras (1804–1910); and the 20th century (1901–2000) which includes the modern (1890–1930) that overlaps from the late 19th-century, the high modern (mid 20th-century), and contemporary or postmodern (1975–2015) eras.