Writing and Scoring for Strings

About this course:

This comprehensive workshop in writing music for the string family--violin, viola, cello and double bass--takes a thorough look at the contemporary and historical use of the strings and their usage in both film and concert music composition. The film composers studied include Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Thomas Newman, Michael Giacchino and Jerry Goldsmith. The concert composers include Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel, Leonard Bernstein, Edward Elgar, Igor Stravinsky and John Adams. The course examines how film composition has utilized concert music for specific techniques, as well as for inspiration. Many sessions feature one of the members of the string family, with top professionals from L.A. recording studios demonstrating their respective instruments and playing student compositions. The final project is the writing and subsequent recording of a work for string quintet.