–quote–

…His biographer, John Snelson, has acknowledged the strong similarity between the opening melody of the slow movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and the Jesus Christ Superstar song “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, but claims that Lloyd Webber “…brings a new dramatic tension to Mendelssohn’s original melody through the confused emotions of Mary Magdalene. The opening theme may be Mendelssohn, but the rhythmic and harmonic treatment along with new lines of highly effective melodic development are Lloyd Webber’s. The song works in its own right as its many performers and audiences can witness.”[16]

In interviews promoting Amused to Death, Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd, asserted that Andrew Lloyd Webber had plagiarized short chromatic riffs from “Echoes” for sections of the musical The Phantom of the Opera; nevertheless, he decided not to file a lawsuit regarding the matter.[17] Curiously, the songwriter Ray Repp made a similar claim about the same song, but insisted that Lloyd Webber stole the idea from him. Unlike Roger Waters, Ray Repp did decide to file a lawsuit, but the court eventually cleared Lloyd Webber of plagiarism.[18]

…

Lloyd Webber has also been accused of cribbing off Puccini, most notably in Requiem[19] and The Phantom of the Opera. A claim regarding Phantom by the Puccini estate was settled out of court.”

–end quote–

Still, my favorite composer… a living Genius, IMO

The use of the instrument to create art, and the attendant need to master the “operation” of the instrument… to the point that the technical stuff becomes almost invisible and the artistic emerges.

The need to practice – you can no more make brilliant photographs by going out and shooting once a month or on weekends than you can be a brilliant performer by practicing occasionally.

The need to make mistakes, many mistakes, on the way to creating some brilliant “performances.”

Some differences…

Historically, music has been an ephemeral and transitory thing – it exists only as long as the sound is present and every performance is different. On the other hand, the photographer (like the painter, sculptor, film-maker, writer) creates a fixed, finished object and then lets it live its own life.

In photography it is much more the norm that that artist _does_ manage the entire process from conception to final print – and that mastering all of these phases of the creation of a photograph is often regarded as a good thing or even a necessary thing. In music, while there are some exceptions (historically, speaking – see note below) this is very much not the norm. Performers (especially in the so-called classical world, but elsewhere, too) rarely limit themselves to performing music they created, and quite often mostly perform music by others. Performers are rarely great composers and vice versa.

Music is most often a community activity. Even great soloists often perform with orchestras and other performers – e.g. a singer with a pianist. A photographer most often creates his/her work alone.

Additionally, both are deeply affected by and reliant upon the technology they use. (In music this is more true of instrumental music and less true of some vocal music.) By “technology” I don’t just mean modern technology. The technologies of building violins, bending metal, constructing pianos and so forth have deeply affected the course of musical arts. It is clear that the same is true in photography.

Finally, with this in mind, both are deeply affected by changes in modern technology. The move from live performance to a world dominated by recorded music has radically altered the musical experience today from that of a few decades ago. Likewise the ability to work with photographs in the digital domain (in terms of capture, post-processing, and distribution, and other evolving changes) has fundamentally altered the photographic experience for most people.

Dan

As for me taking photos, I don’t know what I am. I just do it whenever I feel compelled and when an idea came to mind. I’m not sure if it’s my passion, yet.