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Hello,
I never listened to much D.E scores before, but the fact that he identifies himself as autodidact intrigues me.
Can anyone please point to me the bits of information where he tells about his personal study (I assume he didn’t just sit at the keyboard and drilled something out of it…) in terms of books, resources etc… Maybe college courses..Also,
Do you know any other self taught composers?Thanks.
He got much of his musical “education” in the days of the performance/musical troupe Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (mid to late 70’s), which usually only performed music from or in the style of 30’s and 40’s jazz. Elfman wrote some pieces like this, and also “practiced” by transcribing pieces by the likes of Duke Ellington or Prokofiev. He’s especially fond of the Russian maestros. He even wrote a Prokofiev-inspired piece called “Piano Concerto No. 1 1/2” in these days. So that by the time he did his first orchestral score, PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, he was already equipped with knowledge and skill in orchestral writing.
It was also within the Mystic Knights group that he learned to play various instruments. In his late teens/early 20’s, he travelled around Africa and picked up various types of percussion stylings and techniques.
All in all, it was basically an approach of experimentation and exploration – and of course being very “musical”, picking up pieces here and there.
I am NOT sure if he ever took a college course in music, though (or anything similar), if that’s what you’re looking for. Nor what BOOKS he used. The above information is all culled from his own mouth in various interviews throughout the years. One of the most informative is one that was conducted a couple of years ago, by Daniel Schweiger.
I wonder if Danny still has the manuscripts for that one lying around. I love Prokofiev (and Stravinsky, which I believe Danny also stated as an influence for the piece), and I would be very interested to hear how Danny channeled their styles, especially since it was his first composition.
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