tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post4969763209067700650..comments2024-03-23T11:40:13.092-05:00Comments on Musical Assumptions: The Difference is in the DoingElaine Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-63970742051817969322012-03-15T08:00:33.676-05:002012-03-15T08:00:33.676-05:00One more footnote, if I may, this time on the subj...One more footnote, if I may, this time on the subject of Boulez. I'm aware of two contemporary composers who have written musical responses grappling with the legacy of Boulez and thought you might be interested in them. The first is a piece for solo harp by John Metcalf called "Le Tombeau de Boulez." The other, a piece for solo piano by Judd Greenstein, is "Boulez is Alive." Each composer--they are from different generations of living composers, as you'll see--shares on his website a bit of commentary about the piece. Coming at all of this as one of those "lay listeners" Babbitt spoke about, I found this all quite fascinating and instructive.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-87490251142655668772012-03-14T19:46:59.248-05:002012-03-14T19:46:59.248-05:00Thank you, Sean. And thank you for adding the res...Thank you, Sean. And thank you for adding the rest of the Russell passage.Elaine Finehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-50137371823549102422012-03-14T18:59:54.356-05:002012-03-14T18:59:54.356-05:00Elaine,
Here is the selection (emphasis mine):
&...Elaine,<br /><br />Here is the selection (emphasis mine):<br /><br />"And it is here that new music is most relevant. The music of our time <b>should</b> be exactly that. It <b>should</b> express our world."<br /><br />Susan,<br />Thank you for sharing that quotation—I think no one could remained unmoved by this composer's passion.<br /><br />P.S. The part of the line that I appropriated was from the introduction to Bertrand Russell's autobiography:<br /><br />"I have wished to understand the hearts of men. <br />I have wished to know why the stars shine. <br />And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux."Seanhttp://blackwingpages.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-76984159724889436012012-03-14T18:38:13.031-05:002012-03-14T18:38:13.031-05:00I like very much what Sean has written, a thoughtf...I like very much what Sean has written, a thoughtful counterpoint to the quotation I admired and offered up. This in particular, captured my imagination: "my imagination is held captive by music's ability to "hold sway above the flux", whether in my time, or others." Thank you, Elaine, for sparking such an interesting conversation.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-56357149022570235852012-03-14T18:35:13.486-05:002012-03-14T18:35:13.486-05:00Sean,
I'm having trouble figuring out which &...Sean,<br /><br />I'm having trouble figuring out which "should" you are referring to! I would like to be able to follow your argument here, but I have no idea where to go. Could you have deleted some part of your comment?Elaine Finehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-47664371334435015032012-03-14T17:36:43.039-05:002012-03-14T17:36:43.039-05:00re: Boulez — when time comes, I wonder who will wr...re: Boulez — when time comes, I wonder who will write the article "Boulez est mort."<br /><br />re: Susan's posts — I also appreciate many of the sentiments expressed in that quotation, but I am troubled by some as well. Clearly, there is passion simmering beneath it all, but I think a kind of false dichotomy has been set up, one between "old" and "new". Bach's music, for example, is revered today not because it is old, but rather in spite of it. A great deal of the music that has survived through the centuries benefitted its own time by not being a part of it—there's a hint of the eternal in such music, as well as a capacity to transcend. While we cannot and need not separate music from the times in which it was written, the stylistic traits that we associate with particular time periods are only music's most topical aspects. In other words, I don't feel I need to relate to Bach's time, because it's precisely the timeless aspects of his music that interest me most.<br /><br />The use of the word "should" in the quotation is revealing, as is the "challenge" to those "afraid" — this is very emotional language which, I feel, is antithetical to developing a deeper appreciation of music, contemporary or not. And while its true that today's musical pluralism makes it difficult for the average listener to find and absorb new work, that's not something new—nor is that of a young modern composer feeling isolated, misunderstood, and under-appreciated.<br /><br />As a composer I can appreciate and empathize with much of what was said, but I can't help feeling saddened by this person's seemingly local sense of perception, too. The "beauty" that he or she is speaking about (in reference to making a connection, sharing an "innerness" between human beings within his or her own time) is undeniable. But is it not equally potent to connect, with such "innerness", to someone or something across vast spans of time, too? <br /><br />As with any discussion about music and the arts, there are many subtle shades of context that profoundly influence how we interpret such commentary. And I am not at all suggesting that this composer is "wrong" -- it's not a matter of such. I suppose what I'm trying to say is (and borrowing from Bertrand Russell), my imagination is held captive by music's ability to "hold sway above the flux", whether in my time, or others.Seanhttp://blackwingpages.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-50987984273360408332012-03-13T20:02:35.735-05:002012-03-13T20:02:35.735-05:00Thank you for adding depth (and breadth!) to this ...Thank you for adding depth (and breadth!) to this conversation, Sue!Elaine Finehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-68837047230428561462012-03-13T19:58:27.102-05:002012-03-13T19:58:27.102-05:00So much to think about here, I hardly know where t...So much to think about here, I hardly know where to begin. I write as a listener, and, from that perspective, what has struck me so very deeply in my travels in new music is how much young composers and musicians reach out to welcome listeners in. Their wish, in doing so, is not to write music that they think I will be comfortable with, but to encourage me not to be afraid of something I’m not used to, to explore and discover, to be willing to try something new. <br /><br />I come back repeatedly to the words a young composer wrote not long ago, exhorting us all to listen. They are these: <br /><br />When you listen to music, whether intentional or not, the composer is giving you just a small slice of their life, and for just that moment you can feel what it’s like to exist as someone else. Sometimes it works to think of music as a highly advanced form of virtual reality. You have a variety of choices, each of which will send you into a different emotional state, and your decision all depends on your mood. Perhaps you want to be able to feel the slow unfolding of the 19th century Austrian countryside, and you can put on Bruckner 4. Or perhaps you’d prefer a childhood memory of trains and war, like soft chugging dreams, and you’ll put on Steve Reich’s Different Trains.<br /><br />But although it can be an interesting learning exercise to listen to music that presents a life to which you cannot relate, I find (and I believe that most people agree) that there is a far more powerful beauty, the feeling that up against this deep black universe, across this long breathing black of the strange and electric night, perhaps there are others with whom I can share this fundamental innerness of human being, others to stand witness, to help break down this lighthouse-loneliness of thought.<br /><br />And it is here that new music is most relevant. The music of our time should be exactly that. It should express our world. Music has the ability to connect people like few other things, and the music that we listen to is the music which we best understand. Some people will tell you that they identify more with Mozart than with anyone else. And that’s fine—if it’s true. But I challenge you, anyone reading this who is afraid of any of the thousands of strands of new music that exist today, anyone who settles for Beethoven (because what could be better?), or who doesn’t listen to anything without words (because it’s boring and quiet), or who assumes that what you listen to is what you like: make an effort to listen to as much new music as possible, listen to it loud (because music is meant to be heard!), and listen to it multiple times. Some of it you will hate. But there are some works which you will find indescribably beautiful, being produced all over the world, all the time, which are so much more meaningful because they describe a time and place to which we can relate.<br /><br />So why is new music relevant? Because we don’t live in a world with court musicians anymore, and we don’t live in a world ruled by the British Empire, and we don’t live in a world where the fastest way to contact a friend is to write them a letter or ride to their home. Even since the premiere of The Rite of Spring—a piece often associated with modernism—we’ve been through two world wars, sent humans into space, and invented the internet. Music is my optimal language, and I want it to express my world.<br /><br />I find these among the most beautiful, and true, words written on the subject and come back to them again and again.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-43429335553336815722012-03-13T16:38:08.647-05:002012-03-13T16:38:08.647-05:00Boulez is not worth quoting. Someone took him at h...Boulez is not worth quoting. Someone took him at his "word," and created that Boulez Project. http://ronsen.org/boulez/ Boulez is a pretend radical, but is very authoritative (reference your blog post on "authority"). Hirsch is correct to observe that composers work according to dissimilar motives. Isn't that terrific? People are different. What would it be like if some "authority" enforces a uniformity? Oy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-83487133701338180972012-03-13T11:52:29.982-05:002012-03-13T11:52:29.982-05:00A friend passes along to me this, as his quotation...A friend passes along to me this, as his quotation of the day:<br /><br />“Composers who try to please the public are guilty of whore’s reasoning” --Pierre Boulez<br /><br />FWIW, I believe that it's difficult or impossible to generalize about why composers do what they do; I am myself a dreadful mind-reader, and my working assumption is that a range of individuals will have different motivations, and any particular person's motivations and interests might different from year to year or day to day.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.com