When asked to picture the composer of a work played by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), most people will imagine Beethoven or Bach in his white wig. Whoever comes to mind, it’s certainly not immediately Stephanie Berg, the young, talented composer from Parkville, Missouri. Nevertheless, her piece, “Ravish and Mayhem” will premiere tonight and tomorrow at 8 p. m. at Powell Symphony Hall. The piece was one of two works chosen by the SLSO to be performed from the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) last February. The two pieces chosen represent the first times that a major American symphony orchestra will perform works composed under MNMI. A graduate of the University of Missouri–Columbia, Berg completed her Master degree in Clarinet and Composition in 2012. She is now based in St. Louis, and took the time to talk with us about her music, composing, and the honor of having her work performed by the SLSO. For more information about that concert, go here.
How would you describe “Ravish and Mayhem?”
I’d say it’s fun and vivacious, and kind of a kick in the gut. [laughs]
What is the instrumentation for the piece?
Originally it was composed to be performed by Alarm Will Sound for the summer festival, but I arranged it for full symphony for these performances. It will be a full orchestra with a reduced wind section.
What was the inspiration or story behind “Ravish and Mayhem?”
I went to hear Alarm Will Sound and I loved the energy of their music and so I was sort of fantasizing, thinking, “if I ever had a chance to write a piece for them, what kind of piece would I write?” I decided that it would have to be something that would sort of encapsulate that energy. When I figured that out, I heard the main theme to “Ravish and Mayhem,” and that’s how that came about.
For some reason, the image that kept popping in my head was an ancient middle-eastern street festival. The music itself isn’t necessarily middle-eastern, but for some reason I was just kind of envisioning something kind of exotic and something like a wild party of some sort. I got the inspiration for the piece and then I sort of hung on to it for a while. This was years before I was selected to be a part of the summer festival. So then, when I found out they had selected me to be a part of it that summer, I thought, “Well, I know what piece I’m going to write,” and that’s when I wrote it.
So you already had the main theme in your head, and then you had to sit down and flesh it out?
Yeah, it was a matter of getting down the main theme—which was the easy part—and then I had to figure out how the rest of the piece went. That’s always difficult for me.
If you start with the main theme, how do you decide what comes next?
[Laughs.] That is a really good question. I find that it’s a little different with every piece. I find that I rely a lot on Finale Playback. You type notes into the computer, and the computer will play it back to you, and it doesn’t sound great, but you get an idea of the pitches. I guess I compose very linearly, which means that I start from the beginning and work my way to the end, rather than writing pieces and chunks. I might jump around a little bit, but for the most part I kind of write it all in order and that seems to work for me.
Usually I write it as a piano reduction first, so if I’m writing for an entire orchestra with a million instruments, I’ll just start by writing it on two or three staves and then once I get it from beginning to end, then I start working vertically and working on the orchestration and making it a piece for full orchestra. I’ll have kind of an outline at least of the harmonies and the countermelodies, so everything is there, but it’s just a matter of who is playing what and how many people and fleshing it out that way, or I might be adding textures.
What was your immediate thought when you found out your piece had been selected to be performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra?
[Laughs] I think that my initial thought was not exactly repeatable because it involved a lot of unbelievable cursing. I was so completely out of my head at that point, I was actually literally screaming. It was funny because my boyfriend gave me the phone call. He actually found out first and then called me. I happened to be out of town with some friends, enjoying a lovely evening of quiet board games, and all of a sudden I get this call and suddenly I’m running around screaming at the top of my lungs. All I could do was give my friends a thumbs up to let them know it was a good thing. Once I became coherent again I was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that actually happened.”
When did you start playing an instrument?
I started out on piano, actually. My parents are both piano teachers, so I started the piano when I was six. Then when I was 12, in seventh grade, that’s when my school district started band, so that’s when I chose to play the clarinet and I stuck with it.
When did you begin writing your own music?
I started formally writing my own music really late into my bachelor’s degree. I had written music before that, but it had always been kind of a hobby to me and I never really considered it a serious career choice. It was when I started taking composition lessons during my undergraduate degree that my professors started taking a notice of me. They started encouraging me to really follow this path, and that’s kind of what got me into it.
When did you realize you had a future in writing?
[Laughs.] It’s funny because I remember the exact moment. Dr. Stefan Freund, one of the composition professors at MU, was looking over a piece I had written for my very first commission, and he turned around and looked at me and he said, “You know, you could do composition.” It was kind of at that moment that the light bulb when on. I was like, “Hmm. Yeah!” I guess I just needed someone’s permission.
What inspires you? Do you have favorite composers or styles?
As to where does my inspiration come from, that’s kind of a hard question. I find that I have to kind of find a quiet place, and usually I find that place has to be when I’m driving on the road or taking a long walk or something like that. It’s just kind of a time where everything is quiet and I can just think into my own head. Usually I can find something interesting in there. Of course, I never specifically try to sound like anyone when I write, however what I write is definitely informed by the music that I’ve played and heard and performed.
What music do you listen to?
You know, that’s a good question. I find that this is not uncommon around other performers, but we’re surrounded by music so much, that sometimes silence is really nice. Whenever I do listen to music, I have a real soft spot for the Romantic era; Brahms especially. It’s really old fashioned for a living composer, but I like the old stuff. I like the new stuff too; I love Stravinsky. [Laughs.] Well, Stravinsky’s not even really that new anymore.
How did you get involved with the Creating Original Music Program for elementary and high school age composers?
That was also through Stefan Freund. I’m not exactly sure how that conversation came up, but somehow started talking to each other and he mentioned that he needed somebody to run that contest. I think it had been going for two or three years before I took over. Of course it was an assistantship position so I ended up overseeing that for, I believe, four years. It was really fun because you’d see a lot of the same kids coming though that program, so you get to see them grow up and you get to watch their compositional styles mature. It’s a really neat thing.
Now that you’ve completed your degrees, do you spend most of your time composing or do you also teach?
I’m doing a lot of things right now. At the moment I’m getting into private teaching. I have a lot of clarinet students. I’ve also recently become an assistant to Alarm Will Sound, so I’m helping them out with little odds and ends. But then, I’m also composing and performing as well, and juggling all of the things.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on a piece for my dad’s community band, and there’s also an oboe trio that I wrote back in September, that should be performed some time this spring. [laughs] It will be performed in Arkansas, of all places.
