Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until I heard the symphonies of Beethoven as a teenager that I began to actively pursue an understanding of it. I can still recall how I felt as I listened to each symphony, in particular the Ninth. I remember listening in awe of the incredible power, majesty, and—above all else—joy, expressed in that immortal work. Even today, Beethoven's symphonies never fail to inspire me and they remain the standard to which I will forever strive. I voraciously began to explore the music of other composers, and to read everything I could get my hands on about these men and the music they created. Soon, I was beginning to compose my own melodies and composition, emulating what I heard in the music I loved.
Instinctively, I knew that if I wanted to create music as these men did, I needed to understand it in the same manner as they had. And so, I sought out the writings of prominent 18th and 19th century theorists, devouring them with the knowledge that they were the guide to the technical command of my art that I both desired and needed. First, there was Fux and the rigors of strict counterpoint. Later, I discovered the remarkable (yet woefully under-appreciated) treatises of Ebenezer Prout. Most important to my musical development has been C.P.E. Bach's Versuch and F.T. Arnold's expansive survey of the art of figured bass taken directly from the writers of the period—Türk, Mattheson, Marpurg, and others. Though aimed towards performance, both are invaluable for the proper understanding of harmony. Together, these have formed the foundation of my knowledge of music, which remains constantly tempered by the careful study of the great composers.
I am a Romantic—not merely stylistically, but in the fullest sense of the word. Romanticism has been the only aesthetic philosophy to emphasize man as a rational, volitional, heroic creature. The purpose of art, particularly of Romantic art, is not to project what is or was—not the everyday or the accidental—but, what ought to be—the purposeful, the inspirational, the heroic. Inasmuch as Romantic art achieves this aim, it inspires and uplifts, and offers to its audience an abstract of the essentials for a meaningful, happy life. As Bach once said of music, but is true of all good art, its purpose is the "refreshment of the human spirit."
Joseph Dubois
Biography
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until I heard the symphonies of Beethoven as a teenager that I began to actively pursue an understanding of it. I can still recall how I felt as I listened to each symphony, in particular the Ninth. I remember listening in awe of the incredible power, majesty, and—above all else—joy, expressed in that immortal work. Even today, Beethoven's symphonies never fail to inspire me and they remain the standard to which I will forever strive. I voraciously began to explore the music of other composers, and to read everything I could get my hands on about these men and the music they created. Soon, I was beginning to compose my own melodies and composition, emulating what I heard in the music I loved.
Instinctively, I knew that if I wanted to create music as these men did, I needed to understand it in the same manner as they had. And so, I sought out the writings of prominent 18th and 19th century theorists, devouring them with the knowledge that they were the guide to the technical command of my art that I both desired and needed. First, there was Fux and the rigors of strict counterpoint. Later, I discovered the remarkable (yet woefully under-appreciated) treatises of Ebenezer Prout. Most important to my musical development has been C.P.E. Bach's Versuch and F.T. Arnold's expansive survey of the art of figured bass taken directly from the writers of the period—Türk, Mattheson, Marpurg, and others. Though aimed towards performance, both are invaluable for the proper understanding of harmony. Together, these have formed the foundation of my knowledge of music, which remains constantly tempered by the careful study of the great composers.
I am a Romantic—not merely stylistically, but in the fullest sense of the word. Romanticism has been the only aesthetic philosophy to emphasize man as a rational, volitional, heroic creature. The purpose of art, particularly of Romantic art, is not to project what is or was—not the everyday or the accidental—but, what ought to be—the purposeful, the inspirational, the heroic. Inasmuch as Romantic art achieves this aim, it inspires and uplifts, and offers to its audience an abstract of the essentials for a meaningful, happy life. As Bach once said of music, but is true of all good art, its purpose is the "refreshment of the human spirit."
(from joseph-dubois.squarespace.com)