Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Would it be plagiarism?

Or "Death and the Merry Maiden"....

Thanks, that sounds merrier...

CA methinks when a composer is putting time into finding the perfect title mid-composition, composer has reached an impasse, and is procrastinating and dreaming of finished product...
Am I right?

And is it for piano solo? And what does it sound like?

My favourite Death and the Maiden "use" is George Crumb's, wonderful quotation of the original Schubert (sigh).

I just started it a couple of days ago, but I think the idea is just that - Death and the Maiden... It just developed that way, almost by itself.
There is no piano... It is a classical orchestra.

"Death and the Copyright Maidens"

I hope you're going to at least quote from Schubert, ala Carnival of the Animals style hee hee

I will...

I still don't know if the maiden survives or not though... Probably not, but I am not sure...

Anyway, the actual piece doesn't have anything to do with Schubert...

Will the maiden's 'hood' survive? cough...
Maybe not, if the piece is romantic.

Going with that, it could be Gothy.... "Death and the Maiden - Together At Last".
Through in some quasi-Danny Elfman music and you'll get a horde of goth and Burton fans clamoring for your new Maiden Death piece!

Ah, I just edited my post this minute to write "probably not"... So I am almost positive now she won't survive, as you agree too...
I like that!!!! "Together At Last". It is really beautiful, thanks!

Just call the composition "Death and the Maiden", schuberts piece, I don't think is even technically titled that, it's called String Quartet NO 14 in D minor.

It's only plagiarism if the content is the same.

If a company has the same or a similar name like Sunrise. They must not sell to the same people, for example you could have sunrise foods and sunrise auto shop. Or you could have two sunrise foods in different parts of the country. However, these rules do not apply to titles.

A lot of times, authors start with a "working title," since stories change so much as writers explore the possibilites, as their characters develop, as the character of the piece develops, and as they revise, revise, revise.

No doubt, your composition will take on a life of its own, and will take you on a ride to end up who knows where? You might end up saying, "I thought it was called 'Sir Morte and the Mad Merry Maiden,' but I see now it is called 'Fried Ice Cream.'"

Good luck!

As I understand it 'plagiarism' is the passing off of someone else's work as your own. If your composition is your own original work and no part of it could be attributed to Schubert's String Quartet in d minor then you would not be plagiarising Schubert.
I don't see how using the same or a similar title can be construed as plagiarism. Your use of the title may have different implications and meaning.

Thanks again, everyone.
I have come to the conclusion it wouldn't be plagiarism. Schubert could have been accused of the same, as that title had been used before him in art for example.

My composition is totally original, so I don't think I could be accused of anything...

But as it develops I could also have other ideas, as CinnamonBear also said.

But if possible I would like them to be together and live happily ever after , so Mattardo's suggestion would be very appropriate.

and now for something completely different, but related: there was this stringquartet, a male cellist, the rest women, it was called: der Tod und die Mädchen, though he was quite nice to watch...

We did a short overview of stuff while going through Ariel Dorfman's play "Death and the Maiden", and the idea of death and the beautiful maiden has been a concept used extensively in visual art, dramatic art, prose and poetry, as well as in music. So just go for it!

Yes, there are a lot of images, including art in Google images for example.
I don't know, I feel fascinated by death and cemeteries in the spirit of Romanticism, not in a macabre sense...