This reminds me of my high school band director's attitude toward early music (this goes back to the mid-to-late sixties): He saw pursuit of the recently popularized recorder and its ilk as a "cop out"--playing instruments and music that were as yet poorly understood and thus supposedly poorly played. Hopefully current academics have a different attitude!
Leonard Williams On 8/3/13 10:12 AM, "Christopher Wilke" <[email protected]> wrote: > > The problem is lack of support - if not outright hostility - from the > "mainstream" classical music establishment. While my perception of what > I and other early music performers do is that we play classical music, > many, many "official" classical musicians do not share this > view. Indeed, at colleges where I was employed, significant public > response was ultimately detrimental as it drew the flagrant ire of at > least two tenured professors with great influence in the departments. > Both of these professors actively petitioned against having any early > music performance activities at their respective colleges, ostensibly > on the grounds that it distracted students from giving full attention > to the "real" program of instruction. (One of the professors had the > gaul to tell me to my face, "You're not a real ensemble because you > don't play in parts." WTF? The majority of what we performed was > renaissance polyphony!) I think they were afraid we were making them > look bad. Concerts were not free to the public; box office receipts > showed that we were bringing in actual revenue. And maybe, just maybe, > my esteemed senior colleagues were jealous also of the fact that > students were learning and having fun. Oh well, those professors are > still there doing the same old thing and I am still struggling very > much to find work years later. Good for them. > Chris > > Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A. > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > ----- Original Message ----- > From: gary <[email protected]> > To: lutelist <[email protected]> > Cc: > Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2013 4:06 AM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness > I got into early music 'cause I hate crowds. My jazz performances were > attracting too many people. Of course, you heard about the lutenist who > won the lottery. When asked what he was going to do with his winnings, > he said, "I'm going to work 'til they run out." Early music, like jazz > and chamber music, is a niche market. Upon being asked how one can make > money in music, Henry Mancini said, "If you want to make money in > music, > go into band uniforms." > Gary > On 2013-08-02 05:17, [1][email protected] wrote: > > I have done the same for a small baroque orchestra at the University > > of Sao Paulo, USP, > > with little gain as well. The group has a lute and a theorbo in it. > > Any hints are welcome. > > We have thought everything from flash-mobs to pairing music with > food, > > theater, baroque dance, text, whatever... > > So far our biggest hits have been opera and baroque dance, costly > > events which we cannot do on a regular basis > > due to budget size. > > Ernesto Ett > > 11-99 242120 4 > > 11-28376692 > > > > > > > > On 31.07.2013, at 22:46, Bruno Correia <[2][email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Dear members of the list, > > > > I have been at pains trying to raise interest in our beloved > > instrument down here in Brazil. I've given speeches, played solo and > > chamber concerts... but despite all efforts the general public and > > also > > the musicians (professionals or amateurs) simply don't get turned > on. > > It is a sad fact that the lute and the early music performance > > practice did not reach the University here. So we don't exist > > academically speaking. > > > > Would anybody be willing to list some strategies that could be used > > to > > help disseminate the lute and its repertoire? > > -- > > Bruno Correia > > > > Pesquisador autonomo da pratica e interpretac,ao > > historicamente informada no alaude e teorba. > > Doutor em Praticas Interpretativas pela > > Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. > > > > -- > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > >References > > 1. mailto:[email protected] > 2. mailto:[email protected] > 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
