# William Kersten "Romantic Symphony" review by re-peat



## GeorgeHirschmann (May 1, 2021)

I noticed this composer, William Kersten, on the VSL Forum and heard his Romantic Symphony which is here - 

 

I then found this review re-peat wrote - I wondered about this because re-peat just totally trashed this guy with lots of comments that don't make much sense to me. Though I am not that sophisticated I admit. But it's like - he is just trying real hard to come up with something bad to say but it doesn't really relate to the music. So who is this critic guy or whatever he is, re-peat, and what music does he do that is way better in either programming or composition? I never found anything by him anywhere on the internet. He seems like a total unknown who just writes mean stuff on this particular forum. But anyway! here is the review by re-peat I saw - 
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Review of William Kersten, Romantic Symphony, by re-peat:

"To me, this is the kind of music where you know within 30 seconds of the opening notes exactly what you're in for during the next half hour and, sadly enough, that fearful expectation of impending tedium is mercilessly met. For the full stretch of the ordeal.

There's never a suprise, there's no joy, no true musical excitement, not a single moment of thought-provoking inventiveness, ... the music constantly wallows in its own seriousness and plods, bar after bar, along well-established and academically approved paths. You can almost see a gaggle of esteemed music professors looking over the composer's shoulder, knodding their heads approvingly (although I can also spot some of them struggling with stifling a yawn on more than one occasion).
And when, during the finale, one can literally hear this symphony begging desperately for a standing ovation, it does so with melodic and harmonic banalities, bombastic pseudo-emotion and a bag of cheap tricks of such musical vulgarity that even a humble composer of second rate film music would be embarrased to use them.

This, to me, is the output of a well-educated and technically accomplished composer who has nothing to say and takes all the time he is allowed by the textbooks to say it. Sequences of notes which, time and again, I initially took to be secondary transitional material turned out the be the actual main themes of the piece — only to tell you how weak and flimsy I consider the thematic content — , and I waited in vain for even a single bolt of genuine musical inspiration. It never came.
Disregarding the finale (which I consider pathetically disappointing) for a polite moment, everything is more or less correct, everything is how it should be, every bar is craftily written and orchestrated, most of the music should pass any theoretical examination with decent results, but precisely because of all these qualities, it's also dull, bland and, to my mind anyway, quite forgettable. Again, I am sorry, but this is my opinion.

Paradoxically perhaps, this symphony is both formal and amorphous. The form, however, is never an integral part of the music, it merely establishes the prescribed boundaries within which "symphonic music' of this kind is supposed to happen, while its amorphousness is the result of the music having no "arc of inner logic" that pushes it forward towards its inevitable destination. (Which is something that, in my opinion, a symphony or concerto, worth its name and historic pedigree, can't be without.) Remove or add 10 minutes from or to this piece and it won't make any difference whatsoever. (Except that the former would have been a most welcome act of kindness.)

Predictably, the composer of this music — as composers of this type of music are wont to do (we had a near identical case a few years ago) — is deeply offended when the V.I. populace isn't quick enough with showing its adulation. And in his mind there can, of course, be only one explanation for this absence of instant reverence (an explanation which, naturally, elevates The Composer high above the philistine crowd): the V.I. membership obviously consists mostly of ignorant, uncultivated Zimmeroïd plebs that has no taste or qualifications to appreciate the finer things in music.
It's an arrogance I find particularly misplaced and offensive because, as I mentioned earlier, this symphony relies, especially in its latter half, on the very same banalities, formulas, tricks and techniques to play and impress audiences with as film music does. Yes, film music, that loathsome musical aberration which is so looked down on by the snobbish cultural elite, to which The Composer clearly aspires to belong.

And finally, another thing that annoys and saddens me about this type of music, is that it gives classical music a bad name. Force-feed this to an innocent, uncontaminated audience and the bulk of them will turn their backs on classical music for the rest of their lives. And can you blame them? I would too if I didn't know any better already. Why? Because there's no room, not even the slightest possibility, for joy and enjoyment in the exposure to this music. It turns the beautiful, wondrous and adventurous gift that is music into a burden, a drag, and a sad waste of time. It's all depressing, dreary, self-indulgent and rather pretentious seriousness from the first second to the last. Making for an experience that an audience will sit through with numbing resignation, and when they applaud its ending, which they will because protocol instructs them to, that applause is first of all a release of eagerly awaited relief and, secondly, these people applaud mostly themselves, and deservedly so, for having mustered the stamina and perseverance required to sit the whole thing out, silently suffering, without having lost their good manners.

For the third and final time: I am sorry (well, a bit), but this is what my first encounter with this music and its composer triggers me to say. Strictly personal opinion of course, and I'm totally confident that any discomfort which my words might cause will be inconsequential and short-lived. As befits the provocation." - re-peat


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## ism (May 1, 2021)

It’s deeply unfortunate to see this episode dredged up, but if you really need to understand the context behind this “review”:






Romantic symphony


I recently did a new recording of my Romantic Symphony with VSL, using a massive amount of doubling in strings, woodwinds and brass. One thing that was difficult was creating divisi in the 8-horn ensemble, which involved doubling without phasing solo and Dimension horns. I completed the notated...




www.vi-control.net






Hopefully this answers your question and we can let it drop without further comment.


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## ProfoundSilence (May 1, 2021)

Why would you even bring any of this back up?

worth noting know that piet is not a random unknown on the internet - and while he's talented, part of his talent comes from his ability to be insanely critical. Not for everyone, admittedly - but that's just who he is. My advice is to find something better to do than to make this thread.


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## José Herring (May 1, 2021)

This thread is like eating bad sushi. It just re-peats on you.


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## CT (May 1, 2021)

I think some people on this forum could use more re-peat in their life.

Silly thing to dredge back up though.


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## ProfoundSilence (May 1, 2021)

Mike T said:


> I think some people on this forum could use more re-peat in their life.
> 
> Silly thing to dredge back up though.


I agree, this belongs 100% in the drama zone. But leave it to the internet to go out of their way to be offended on somebody elses behalf. 

Hope you're feeling better buddy, you can always yell at me on discord


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