Heard anew: Dalit Warshaw

Experience the sound of the present in the Grand Hall: the »Elbphilharmonie Visions« festival throws the spotlight exclusively on contemporary music. This promises both an exciting musical treat and a unique chance to engage directly with the composers, asking them about the works and composing itself. How do they approach the composing process? Do they envision an entire work before they start, or does it only emerge as they write? How does their environment influence their work? And what aspirations do they have for their music?

The festival’s composers share insights into their work in a series short interviews. This edition is with the New York city based composer Dalit Warshaw, whose composition »Responses« is on the programme for the concert of NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester under Alan Gilbert.

What inspires you as a composer? How important is the extra-musical to you?

My music frequently possesses a programmatic or literary basis, whether depicting actual story, or serving as commentary on a non-musical theme or a specific work by an earlier composer. As both composer and performer, I often view my role as that of a conduit, channeling personalities, intents and applicable musical languages, be it a general allusion to style, or the more literal engagement with quotation. The dialogue and reconciliation of languages present and past has become an increasingly important element of my compositional style in recent years. 

Do you have a fully formed idea for a work in your head before you set about composing it?

Always. The vision often develops well before the piece is even commissioned, or the instrumentation finalized. I have a long list of works yet to be written, the conceptual premises all elaborately described. These are gradually built upon, developing layers over time, from the grandest to minutest details. The actual composition process, in contrast, is intensely concentrated and often rapid (not to mention, quite joyous), as the pre-compositional components have long been in place, and I am being led by the needs of the music by that point. 

How would you describe the sound of our time?

One can easily fall into the trap of either generalizing, or writing a treatise, when answering this question! As an American composer based in New York, I believe that, as creators, we currently find ourselves in a time of especial freedom, with a jubilant embarrassment of riches in which all languages and mediums (including continually evolving innovation in the realm of electronic music), and the ways they can be converged and reconciled, are not only acceptable, but sought after. There is also a renewed interest in the allure of coloristic possibility, a virtual dream for any orchestrally-inclined composer. Along with this, there seems to be heightened interest in addressing issues beyond the music, such as cultural identity and prevalent global concerns, more so than in the past. 

What does contemporary music need to resonate with audiences?

I don’t believe that creators should feel the need to pander to one’s projected audience. »Favor« is a transient, time- and case-specific phenomenon, and what ultimately prevails is sincerity of vision, which transcends trend or style. Perhaps the stronger (and more realistic) objective is to ensure that, whatever the reaction may be, it come from an emotional place, ideally provoking thought, questions or revelation, and not be one of indifference. 

What do you hope audiences take away from your work after a concert?

I began composing for orchestra at an unusually young age, initially developing my craft through direct experience working with many ensembles and conductors, in lieu of conventional composition study. After years exploring other mediums (including the theremin, which I also perform), writing »Responses« marked a profound point of return for me, not least as its original form was for solo piano, my native instrument. This homecoming propelled me toward Brahms, whose music – I’ve often felt – contains the paradoxical ability to express such vivid depth of feeling, while tamed within a gracefully decorated picture frame. I sought to probe potential emotional ironies unexpressed, wondering what rawness could exist were I to converse with, or even to provoke, this spirit.