Eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror . . .

[alzado]

I'm putting this into repertoire because it has to do with selection of music, and awareness of contemporary music.

Let me tell a story -- I'll keep it brief.  I went to a conference recently.  As part of the program a young (35?) composer and pianist performed for us, named Ron Hall.  I don't know if any of you are familiar with him.

He played a really beautiful piece of his own composition entitled "Lark Ascending" which -- in my humble opinion -- showed a lot of compositional talent.  (Not to be confused with a piece of the same title by Vaughan-Williams.)  He has apparently composed a great deal.  It seems like very good work.
 
He is currently struggling to get some of his compositions published, and appears to be accepting any offers to play, so as to get his pieces in front of the public as far as possible.

I would love to purchase some of his sheet music, but he said that currently it is not in publication.  Soon, he hoped.

This started me thinking, maybe something is wrong with a culture that reveres artists dead these two centuries, and yet stymies any gifted new talent.

----------------

Now let me quote McLuhan, the Canadian futurist.  He said, "we drive into the future with our eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror."

How true this is of repertoire.  To the absurd point that one contributor recently made a posting questioning if there is any need for any classical music to be composed any more, at all.  I mean, heck, we have all those dead bones of the past, don't we?

Of course.  We can scrabble through the dustbin of centuries, and cherish all the bones of these long-dead geniuses that comprise 95% of our repertoire. 

We have been gripped by "le morte main" -- the "dead hand."  This term is actually from law, but really fits here. 

Doesn't anyone in professional music have any original ideas any more?

Do we have to keep animating the old bones of the past?  Great composers of past centuries expressed the milieu of their own time -- brilliantly expressed the culture and values of the time and place they lived.  But WE apparently have no vision of our own time, to judge from concert programs across America.

We have made graven idols out of Beethoven or Bach or Brahms, or others, and thus have stunted our cultural growth.  Probably Beethoven would have been horrified to see what we have made of him.  A locked-on handbrake to any musical progress.

If we compose and play no classical music for our own time, does that mean a kind of decadence?

Well, I have shared here a few thoughts, and would be interested to hear YOUR thoughts. 

Frankly I wish that gifted young composers such as my friend Ron, mentioned above, would not have to struggle so hard to have their really beautiful works played and appreciated.

A penny for your own thoughts?

[lisztisforkids]

Yes i agree with you for the most part. We need to reinvigorate classical music. Ofcourse we can never say goodbye to beethoven. But i think its time we started to bring classical music back to life. The audiance out there wants MORE. I say lets return classical music to the power it once held.

[sonatainfsharp]

Maybe it's because 200 years ago, there weren't as many people? Maybe because these days, people have more freedom to do what they want, in addition to doing more than one thing?

Now, there are something like 3 billion people on the planet, so it is harder to be known.

From what I recall, one of the first composers whose main job wasn't to compose was Charles Ives. Beethoven HAD to compose, that is why people joke about his Bagatelles (except the last set)--they were written purely for the money 'cause he was broke! (And they sound like it, too!)

If you look at lists of composers from certain eras, every list I have seen has 100's or even 1,000's more recognized composers from our era listed than any other era, and I don't think I have heard of more than a handful. There are just so many people and so many composers.

As an example, I have a book in front of me that lists piano compositions ordered by era. The 20th-Century era alone takes up well over 3/4 of the book. The remaining 1/4 squeezes in Baroque, Classical, Romantic eras, as well as a few prefaces, a forward, and an index.

Because of this, people seem to be afraid of new things, so they go back to the classic greats, and think Bartok is REALLY modem.

For example, I studied composition with Dr. Chris J. Granias, Dr, Justin Rubin, and Dr. Thomas Wegren. These people are monsters when it comes to composition, but I bet not a single person on this board has heard of them besides myself. I have met Aaron J. Kernis, Joseph Curiale, and a few other "famous" composers, but famous to whom?

From being in the field after being in college, I think people are more into the music now more than ever. I know orchestras aren't as sold-out as they used to be, but the sales of recorded music always goes up, as it is easier to access than traffic, parking, ticket prices, etc.

I do admit, though, that it is pretty sad when people from my own generation start clapping between movements at the symphony...

[abell88]

Now, there are something like 3 billion people on the planet, so it is harder to be known.

It's twice as bad...there are over 6 billion...

You have some interesting points -- but some would argue that with the greater media availability, it should be easier to become known.

I think there are some institutions which should take some responsibility in this -- and some of them have/are doing so. I know that in Canada, the RCM's publishing arm, Frederick Harris music, actively solicits new compositions on their website.  RCM students have to choose a modern(ish) piece when they do their exams -- but unfortunately, I have seen plenty of posts from students saying List E is their least favourite.  I think teachers should take some responsibility here, too. If we don't expose our students to this type of music, or if we do it disdainfully rather than showing them its beauty, how will they learn to love it?

[zheer]

We have great song writers and composers these days, but it is difficult to be a classical composer and be convnsing , classical music is a progression , the golden age stoped with Rachmaninoff, this is only my opinion, so please dont tell me to F*** off.

[sonatainfsharp]

I think teachers should take some responsibility here, too. If we don't expose our students to this type of music, or if we do it disdainfully rather than showing them its beauty, how will they learn to love it?

I strongly agree with this! A lof of teachers, though, feel they are in a position to turn students away from more modern music just because of their personal opinions.

I had a teacher tell me that anything written after Debussy sounds like masturbation and the keyboard and she refused to acknowledge any of it. Actually, I even read an article using this phrase before, too.

[BoliverAllmon]

I think people associate new music with atonal music. There is alot more out there besides 12 tone stuff. It is an unfortunate stereotype.

boliver