BLOG.RALPHKENDRICK.COM: More Oom-Pahs, Less Tweets

More Oom-Pahs, Less Tweets

The laws of supply and demand go something like this, the price someone is willing to pay for a product is dictated by the supply and demand for the product. If there are low supplies of a product and high demand for that product, consumers are willing to pay more to receive that product. Conversely, if a product is over-produced, and there is not much demand for the product, consumers are only willing to buy if the price is cheap.

Do the laws of supply and demand affect living composers? By all means.

The supply of ensembles and performers willing to perform new music is relatively small, and the demand for those performers is quite high, because so many composers are looking for performances. Similarly, the number of commissions available to composers is relatively small, and, as a result, the competition for those commissions among composers is astronomically high.

Though I've had decent luck getting my work performed at professional conferences, and have been fortunate to win a few competitions, more often then not, I receive a letter that states something like "thank you for your entry, we received 250+ submissions and were only able to program 50 works" or "we had 87 submissions for our commission opportunity...."

But, rather than lament these circumstances, a composer can use a basic understanding of the laws of supply and demand to their advantage.

Consider this question. What has a better chance of being performed - an orchestra work or a piece for wind symphony? A wind symphony piece, of course! Why? Well, orchestras have been around much longer than wind symphonies. As a result, composers have been writing for orchestras longer, there is more of a supply of orchestra music, there's more competition for getting orchestral performances, etc.

Let's use this same logic for other ensembles. A work for saxophone quartet has a much greater chance of getting performed than a piece for string quartet. Similarly, a work for a brass quintet has a greater chance of being performed than a piece for a string quintet. In short, the longer an ensemble has been in existence, the less chance a living composer has at getting something performed by that ensemble.

Composers can also keep these strategies in mind when writing solos or duets. Bassoonists, saxophonists, percussionists, violists, string bassists, and brass players need more recital literature, while there is a gluttony of works for high winds and strings.

These ideas are supported by my own experiences. My solo bassoon work, Ooghedy Booghedy, has been performed several times by several different players, and I really have not marketed it much. The works most often downloaded from my website are pieces for brass or percussion.

Does all of this strategic thinking mean we should stop writing orchestra pieces and string quartets? Of course not.

What it means is that less-established composers have a greater chance of getting their careers 'jump-started' by writing for performers that have a greater demand for literature. These composers can then leverage those initial performer connections toward getting other commissions and performance opportunities.

All it requires, is a good writing discipline and a little thinking about the laws of supply and demand.