Phil -- in my experience, it's not whether a piece is new or old, but simply if
it's and <good>. My orchestra's concerts include a great deal of new
(admittedly macrobiotic) music, and I can honestly say (through dedicated
outreach I expend much time on, through pre-concert chats, etc) that my
audience has grown vastly in its comprehension of new works. They've come to
appreciate bi- and polytonality. They've come to be able to search (while
hearing a new work) for motivic development, especially in 'modern'
compositional use. They've come to understand form and structure. I've
even written bar-by-bar analytic listeners' guides to new music. And I have
been rewarded for these efforts by a far-more open-minded audience than one
should expect in this mountainous, rural geographic area.
Sure, I like Bach; I marvel especially at his contrapuntal creativity; I enjoy
the sound of his music. But I am far more intrigued by how far we've come
since the Baroque as a composing/listening musical culture - to hear previously
'forbidden' intervals (which Bach would have rewarded with rapped knuckles,)
far more delicious harmonic modulations, adventurous structure, voice-leading,
orchestration, instrumentation, rhythmic complexity....all of which (without
removing my respect for his place in time and sound) can make Bach seem
quaintly caught in his time period as a gifted genius, but of another era.
Still deserving of listening and great respect, but not the end-all of musical
development. And certainly not a piquer of forward-looking musical horizons
beyond his own. Humans have grown far more sophisticated in their listening
and parameters of appreciation. As I can proudly say of my own audience.
It just takes open ears, open minds.
Best,
Les
Les Marsden
Founding Music Director and Conductor,
The Mariposa Symphony Orchestra
Music and Mariposa? Ahhhhh, Paradise!!!
http://arts-mariposa.org/symphony.html
http://www.geocities.com/~jbenz/lesbio.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Daley
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Finale] OT: John Cage's first national TV appearance (1960)
At 5/25/2007 01:26 PM, Mariposa Symphony Orchestra wrote:
>1) Phil - that really isn't relevant to much of this thread; whether on the
>philoso-theolo level, or much else. Congratulations, your favorite
>composer is Bach.
OK, but people have been talking about modern symphonies and their lack of
audience and some have them have gone bankrupt.
IMHO, this is because they perform too many "new" music things.
Phil Daley < AutoDesk >
http://www.conknet.com/~p_daley
_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
