Joan Tower (1938-Present)

Introduction
Joan Tower is an American composer who was born in 1938 in New Rochelle, New York. She studied at both Columbia University and Bennington College. She is known for her very fantasy-like compositional style that can be seen in her orchestral arrangements. She also has been teaching at Bard College since 1972. She has been regarded as one of the most important American composers of today. She has received multiple Grammy awards in her career spanning more than 50 years.

Work Analysis
I chose to examine Tower's "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman #6". The concept behind these fanfares is that it is playing of the idea of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man but for powerful women. These are shorter pieces that go along with Tower's narrative of being a trailblazer for female composers everywhere. This piece is very similar to the traditional tone pieces that we have examined in the past, but then the piece throws in some very vital and exclamatory dissonances that draw in the attention of the listener. This piece has contrasting sections of quiet natured sounds that are then blown out of the water by these empowering sections full of sound from every section in the orchestra.This piece gives a lot of emphasis to the lighter timbre woodwind instruments, with many of the main melodic motives being on those instruments, possibly referring to the traditionally lighter nature of "traditional" women and then having those same melodic ideas in the brass section showing the powerful side of women.

Comparisons
I want to compare this to the Age of Anxiety. The Age of Anxiety was such a grand piece that had a really powerful meaning behind it, and Tower's collection of Fanfares are taking that idea and applying it to the feminist ideology of being a powerful being as a woman. It is nice to see these ideas of modern society being brought into the spotlight by music that can traditionally be seen as being from the past.The legacy this piece has is bringing women to the forefront of orchestral music and composition, a viewpoint that really has not been explored and given credit in the music world until as of late.

Observations
I think this piece, and line of compositions, is absolutely incredible. They do a great job at not only telling a story but that inspiring the listener at the same time, you cannot help but feel empowered by music specifically made to empower. I learned from this that there is power in perfectly understanding who you are and sticking with what you bring to the table. Joan never backed down despite being in a field that sometimes can put women in the corner, she took that stance and became that Uncommon Woman that she composes about.