<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>My two cents:</div><div><br></div>I agree, Paul. I'll go further to say that any composer (whether or not that person is also a theorist) does not think like a theorist when in the act of composition. That is a generalization, but its essence is true. Even writing something according to strict rules, creative types by their very nature pick and choose which of those rules to follow and to what extent--if the music warrants it. I have found that while following rules can make for some exquisite music, it can also result in G*d-awfully boring stuff. When I teach the craft of composition I make sure the students understand that what they are learning are not hard and fast "rules" but practices, and that learning them is like knowing where the walls are in an unlit room; much easier to push/break down those walls (or just find the light switch and/or door, to further the metaphor) if you know where those walls are.<div><br></div><div>Steven</div><br><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">-------------------------------</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">Dr. Steven L. Rosenhaus</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">E-mail: <a href="mailto:srosenhaus@earthlink.net">srosenhaus@earthlink.net</a></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">URL: <a href="http://homepages.nyu.edu/~slr3">http://homepages.nyu.edu/~slr3</a></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><br></span></font></div><div><div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">Other:</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8716.html">http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8716.html</a></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8616.html">http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8616.html</a></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lauraleon">http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lauraleon</a></span></font></div></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">Link to "Writing Musical Theater" by Allen Cohen and Steven L. Rosenhaus:</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1403963959&printer=yes&">http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1403963959&printer=yes&</a></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br></body></html>