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Sure, Dennis -- I don't mind the
pounding! Because -- are you ready? --
Nearly every single concert of the
MSO <has> included world premieres of brand-new,
never-before-heard-anywhere music. Sorry I didn't mention that in my
previous post, but that discussion was really about the merit of live vs.
Memorex, and only tangentially about repertoire.
Not of works by Adams, (either one) or Torke
or Wuorinen or Tower or Higdon (whose music I really believe in, BTW) or
anyone else whose work we all (should) know, but instead works by <local>
composers!! In fact, this season's opener concert of the MSO
was completely all new music in premiere. I
applaud the concert Troy Peters and the Vermont Youth Orchestra
presented at Carnegie Hall and recall reading about it at the time --
because it's precisely what I believe in, too! Fortunately, New York
has an audience (and I hate to generalize, but can you deny:) which is
considerably hipper to new music experiences than might be found out in the
sticks where some of us live. I have a local community group AND a
local audience now willing to do such a thing right where they live!
In Ruralia Americana! My firm belief in the necessity of
such programming right here at home rests on several factors: first,
I believe wholeheartedly in music of today and not <just> of that of
the past. Contemporary music which I find to be worthy of
airing and disseminating to others is of great importance to me. But
I have to temper that belief with other factors such as the abilities of my
various players, the cost of rentals and royalties on a shoestring budget -- and
as well my audience. And I'm fortunate to have some excellent,
experienced and talented composers who have retired to this area (and of course,
there's always me, too!) and who not only play with the orchestra but write for
it as well on occasion when I ask. Our very next concert will
showcase virtuoso trombonist (and old friend of mine) Tom Ashworth, who's flying
out here to play with us completely gratis -- because he believes in what
we're doing and wants to help. And so I've composed a t'bone
concerto for him; that work will world-premiere -- side by side with a
performance of the Wagenseil concerto; is there no value therefore, Dennis, in
demonstrating trombone technique and style from the late Baroque to
today?? And yeah, I'm the first to admit that I'm no Adams (either
one) but then: are you?
And let's not be so quick to dismiss the work
of composers from the past and/or the value of presenting their music: my
old pal Groucho Marx said it best: 'there's no such thing as an old joke if
you've never heard it before.' As I wrote previously,
this is an audience in the creation. Many of my players (!) thanked
me for the experience of playing the Dvorak 8th, as many of them had not
previously been exposed to that warhorse (to me) -- even as mere listener --
previous to my programming it. Gotta crawl
first. Throw 'em some Stockhausen at the first concert and there
won't <be> a second concert....or an orchestra to play
it.
You may not care about whether or not my
audience can tell the difference between Vivaldi and Mozart, but again: the more
you know, the more you know....and I am damned fulfilled by the fact that our
audience WANTS to know. Please do not take this as a pompous
statement, but I do feel a sense of satisfaction for another reason: it's a tad
bit easier to present a new ensemble to an extant audience than it is to create
both an ensemble and an audience when <neither> previously
existed.
Best to All,
Les
Les Marsden
Founding Music Director and Conductor, The Mariposa Symphony Orchestra Music and Mariposa? Ahhhhh, Paradise!!! Responding to Dennis' post of below;
references to other posters excised for clarity of my specific
rejoinder:
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