Red Brick Center for the Arts
110 E. Hallam

Hearing the Whole: Discovering Context and Connection in a Catalog of 100 Compositions

Russell Steinberg

Abstract:
What began as a practical five-year project to build an online catalog of my concert music to connect more effectively with performers and listeners, had an unexpected benefit. The process itself became a powerful tool for creative self-discovery. As I edited scores, program notes, and audio recordings for each piece, I found myself correcting, revising, and sometimes rewriting sections or entire movements. I began to hear my earlier pieces less as isolated efforts and more as voices in an ongoing conversation across time.

This process raised deeper artistic questions: Can we ever hear a piece of music outside the context of what we already know? How does our understanding shift when we hear a work in light of a composer’s evolving language? How might a catalog be shaped not just to present individual works, but to invite listeners into a broader, more connected experience of a body of work?

Ultimately, what I thought was an archival effort became an artistic composition in itself—a recursive act of shaping, listening, and understanding that is now influencing my future work.