The Cambridge Companion to Composition

This wide-ranging guide offers insights for musicians and students on how to be a composer.

As the first major handbook to music composition in decades, this book is primarily aimed at students and practitioners in the area of composition, but the range of topics and genres covered by this book will appeal to academics and practitioners in complementary fields of contemporary music, sound art and creativity.There are as many ways of creating music as there are composers in the world, with a vast array of possible methods and practices. This book provides essential critical and practical tools for composers as they try to navigate this complex landscape, whilst also offering provocations for practitioners discovering their own voices and solidifying their place in their musical communities. Designed to be a companion in the truest sense, the book offers practical support throughout the creative process and thought-provoking insights on technical questions for a range of compositional approaches.