Tag: Classical

The Future of the Orchestra: Part One

Matthew Eilar1 Comment

I’ve been reading a ton of articles from the web archives of classical music critic and orchestra guru Greg Sandow. There is a lot that he writes about, especially about the orchestra’s place in education, but in other respects I think he is extremely off base. One of the things that he writes about is the aging of the classical music audience, and the different ways that orchestras and classical music organizations can attract new (and younger) audiences. I think Sandow is absolutely right about the need for music organizations to literally grow their audience by being active participants in public education, however sometimes he seems preoccupied with the appearances and superficialities of the business. A small disclaimer: almost all of the articles I have been reading were published between ten and fifteen years ago, so his views might have changed since then. He runs a blog at ArtsJournal.com, but I haven’t had a chance to read that yet.

One of the ideas that Sandow repeats is the idea that if orchestras coopt and mimic the language and advertising style of pop or jazz, that audiences will be more open to attending. Another is that the very use of concert halls and concert dress (tuxedos, etc.) is outdated. I think these fixations are completely wrongheaded. I do think that there is a lot of room to experiment with advertising, and I think that ambiance and presentation are important, but I think focusing on them misses more fundemental problems.

I think the two biggest “problems” that classical music institutions must find a solution to are:

1. Classical music requires engagement by the listener. Education and experience allow greater appreciation from the music, and, in the case of Modern/New or pre-Classical music, requires the listener to allow for musical languages different from that of the dominant culture.

2. The majority of people in this country don’t think that classical music belongs to them. This is independent of race, ethnicity and class.

In forthcoming posts, I’ll propose solutions to these problems.

Alexander Street Press

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For those of you out there who have even a casual interest in classical music, I reccomend the free bi-weekly downloads from Alexander Street Press, an online subscription classical music database. The recordings are always one complete piece, and range from short chamber pieces for solo instrument to full symphonies. Their blog has RSS and there is an e-mailing list if you want to be updated when new recordings become available.

Classical Percussion

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There’s a story up on the Wall Street Journal about the recent(ish) trend in classical concert percussion pieces, including Philip Glass’ Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Tan Dun’s Concerto for Water Percussion. It mostly covers the growing corps of soloists and the number of new music composers that are growing the repertoire, but it also asks the question of why it is so popular.

And yet the extramusical elements may be the reason percussion music is so popular with audiences, and often draws crowds that are substantially younger than average. Sometimes it bridges the divide between classical music and rock: Mr. Yamashta remains an icon in alternative rock circles; a percussion concerto by Stewart Copeland, the former drummer of The Police, will be given its premiere next year by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that percussion music is in such demand despite its association with contemporary music—usually considered toxic for ticket sales.

“I think that concert presenters still scratch their heads and don’t understand why this phenomenon is occurring,” says Mr. Haas. “They don’t want to recognize the fact that drums, which not so long ago were considered to not be a concert instrument, have now taken over as the predominant attraction of new audiences.

I think I have an answer to this.

In a sense, rhythm is the last holdout of variety through geographic isolation. Throughout the history of Western classical music it has been possible to track rhythms (especially in dances) from their origin in folk and foreign traditions and the way that they spread around the continent. For example, the sarabande came to Spain from Central America in the middle of the 16th century, then became a staple of French dance suites a century later after it had been banned in Spain due its “obscenity.” With the internet, greater interest in world music, and a globalization fueled interest in cultural pluralism, Western music audiences of the 20th century have the ability to hear the music of any culture on earth.

It was a rhythmic century. Rock and Roll. Funk. Disco. Hip Hop. Jazz. And I think audience interest in percussion oriented pieces reflects a desire to hear concert music that is of its time. In other words, to have music written in the 21st century that ignores the experiments and sounds of percussion specialists like Aphex Twin, or the syncopation and rhythmic variety of a master MC is ignoring the sounds of their time.

There have been periods in music history characterized by growth in complexity of counterpoint, or changes in instrument building and orchestration, or innovations in form. I think this century is going to see a lot of experimentation in the rhythmic content of concert music.

Quartet for the End of Time

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These two videos (each illustrating one movement from Olivier Messiaen’s A Quartet for the End of Time) are truly remarkable. They feature artist Zack Smithey, and were produced by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for an upcoming concert.

Listening to these pieces in the context of the video was interesting for me as it allowed me to see my own musical growth. I remember listening to the Quartet after reading Alex Ross’ The Rest is Noise, and not being able to follow it musically. This time I had no trouble (due in no small part to the fact that I have just finished an intensive music theory unit on Debussy’s harmony).

RIP Alicia De Larrocha

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Spanish pianist Alicia De Larrocha has died. When I was about ten, I recieved a CD of Romantic classics. Totally cheezy album art (it was called Dreams of Love: The Ultimate Romantic Piano Collection) and packaging, but it was really good for me at the time. It was my first exposure to some of the biggest solo piano standards of that period, and definitely reinforced my love for rubato and the pedal-heavy virtuosity of that literature.

One of the tracks was Alicia De Larrocha playing one of Grieg’s Lyrics Pieces. I remember imagining what she might look at. Alicia De Larrocha is one of the greatest names ever; it is stacatto in the given name and a precipitando in the double r building toward a climax. I imagined that she was thin, with dark hair and an inscrutable expression that spoke to the depth of emotion that she accessed to play her music.

Of course, De Larrocha was a short woman that looks like she could be a cool granny. But still I feel like we have a connection, and I am sorry to hear that she has passed.