I don't want to come across as being dismissive about the discipline of musicology. Where would we be without it? I'm a member of AMS. I will, however, be so bold as to say that those who are serious about performance practice and HIP playing are in fact engaging in applied musicology. This unique position SHOULD be essential in musical studies for the liaison function it provides between the two branches of the traditional academic musical curriculum model. We are caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand are the "speculative" arts of musicology and theory, where publication is primary and practical application is not usually expected. On the other hand is "applied" music, which is largely based upon arbitrary measures and a methodology predicated on tradition: "This is good playing because my teacher says so because her teacher told her so because so-and-so played like that." Often that great "tradition" is, in reality, not a very long one. I suppose the idea was that those two philosophical approaches would inform each other. They don't. As it happens, the branches are happy to go about ignoring each other. I guess our presence uncomfortably reminds each group that the other might have something valuable to contribute. Amazingly, this model shows no sign of abating, in spite of the fact that the vast majority of students graduating from the vast majority of music departments neither find work in the field nor go on to graduate studies. [On a side note, I've been amused to follow the side topic that this thread has spawned regarding the qualifications for grade examiners in the UK. A couple of my compositions have been reviewed in British publications. They always say something like, "this is a Grade 6 piece". As an American, I wonder what the heck that even means. Despite the thoroughness of the system, what I've learned has done nothing to dissuade me from believing that performance study is essentially arbitrary.] Chris Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A. Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer www.christopherwilke.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Winheld <[email protected]> To: Christopher Wilke <[email protected]> Cc: Mark Seifert <[email protected]>; gary <[email protected]>; lutelist <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2013 6:15 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness The longer this thread continues, the more I feel like I've gone back 45 years in a time machine. This is EXACTLY the situation I encountered as a young Classical guitar student at university all those years ago; and my love of the lute & early music only compounded the scorn & weirdness reaction. I had long forgotten that such cold, lifeless, unmusical souls are to be found in academe. Musicologists who smugly asked each other, "What instrument did you used to play?" Merely to be passionate about anything, but especially "Early" music as a living, breathing art form would promote the stupid, vapid bovine gaze & the "Why on earth would you want to do THAT?" No wonder I used to envy the Rock & Traditional musicians. I really thought that world had changed- what a shock; but of course I stopped trying to be a hard core professional musician- either academic or worldly- years ago, and besides that I live in Berkeley- and whatever is wrong or lacking here is in another dimension entirely. Dan On 8/3/2013 2:33 PM, Christopher Wilke wrote: > I think one of the other things keeping early music performance down in > higher ed is that too often it is seen as an ancillary adjunct to > musicology. Colleges are happy to employ musicology PhD's to teach > music history, because the primary function of these faculty positions > is not actually teaching, but doing research and publishing, which > increases the academic prestige of the institution. (It's the same with > music theory positions.) Unfortunately, the actual performance of "that > old stuff" is perceived as an unnecessary, possibly even dangerous, > formality. I suppose the keepers of the status quo believe it is better > to present music history as an abstract subject so that students don't > start thinking about how the way they play now is only the present > manifestation of an ongoing historical continuum. > This is real crime, especially in small colleges that only offer > undergraduate performance or music ed degrees. Too often, these > students graduate with the impression that history is a dry, irrelevant > subject with no real application to actual music. Then they end up > paying back their student loans by working at Walmart. > > Chris > Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A. > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mark Seifert <[1][email protected]> > To: Christopher Wilke <[2][email protected]>; gary <[3][email protected]>; > lutelist <[4][email protected]> > Cc: > Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2013 11:45 AM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness > Dear Chris Wilke, > Your message resonates! It's true! I'm sorry you haven't yet reached > full career stride--maybe Nazareth College is too small though > Rochester NY is a cultural powerhouse. > I've seen with my own eyes the hostility/disdain in the faces of > local > classical music establishment folks, and initially thought it was > because they knew I am an unworthy relatively unskilled dilettante. > It may actually be due to the possibility that early music > potentially has more popular appeal than their favored hackneyed 19th > century (not yet fully tested by time) warhorses. EM is simpler, > more accessible to folks. In 2007, a new local State Univ. music > chair > from Texas, concerned about the lack of lute exposure for his > students, > wanted me to play lute with a university singer. Only one out of > dozens of singers in his dept. expressed any interest at all, perhaps > because she is from Vancouver, Canada. After corresponding and > planning with her for a year, we met at an event and she expressed > disdain for "Early Music" and a preference for 19th/20th c. opera, > and > never followed up on the lute song idea, dashing my hopes (She was > the > prettiest woman in the dept.) I suspect this could be the result of > peer pressure against EM. Herd instinct seems hugely important in > the > music world. I hope it wasn't because I told her I was working on > some pieces recently dug up at an ancestral Neanderthal cave > dwelling. > But the turf issue may go beyond this to the problem of the > difficulty > of plucked strings. It seems Music Dept. chairs favor their own > instruments and neglect/deemphasize others. In one private > University, > the entire guitar program, which has the largest number of > instrumental students in the entire music dept. (25 classic guitar > students!), was ignored or given short shrift by the brass winds and > voice loving directors when several outstanding student artists were > selected for last June's gala event. Not a single guitar student was > featured. Maybe guitar plunking wasn't considered loud enough for > the > event. > On another occasion years ago, a spectacular visiting guitar prof. > from > Humboldt State Univ. was initially refused the paltry 300 buck fee > normally given for an hour-long recital. The local guitar chief had > to > beg the music dept. chairman for this honorarium and remind the chair > what an insult this denial would be to the visiting prof. He got the > fee after I embarrassed the chair by offering to pay for it myself as > a > local lute nut not directly connected with the University. > One of the biggest parts of the music dept. at the local state Univ. > is > "symphonic band." Sounds like an oxymoron. No place for a guitar or > lute. Every high school has a marching band in football/violence > crazed America, so there is a huge pool of flute, tuba, trumpet, > drum, > woodwind students from which to select new University matriculants. > I > was the only kid at my high school interested in classical guitar and > I > have heard of only rare high schools nowadays providing classic > guitar > instruction of any kind. The big Univ where I chose to attend > college > had no guitar program at all--Instead I briefly sang in its Russian > Liturgical Choir. Gospodi! Please help Chris and Hugo! > Mark Seifert > From: Christopher Wilke <[1][5][email protected]> > To: gary <[2][6][email protected]>; lutelist <[3][7][email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2013 7:12 AM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness > In America, I haven't found any lack of interest in lute or early > music > from the broader public. Many people who are intimidated by > perceived > ritual and stuffy atmosphere of standard classical concerts are > drawn > in by the look and sound of early instruments. Some marketers have > recognized this: early music is quite well represented in classical > music station playlists. (I've just been invited to give a one hour > interview/lute performance on our local public radio station here > in > Rochester, for example.) My own solo concerts and performances by > the > student early music ensembles I've directed have drawn healthy > crowds. > This is good, but there are larger issues. > 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 > [1][4][8]http://www.christopherwilke.com/ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: gary <[2][5][9][email protected]> > To: lutelist <[3][6][10][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][4][7][11][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][5][8][12][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 [13]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
-- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. http://www.christopherwilke.com/ 9. mailto:[email protected] 10. mailto:[email protected] 11. mailto:[email protected] 12. mailto:[email protected] 13. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
