There is some really good *modern* classical music being written these days. Of course, there is still too much junk that needs to be deposited into the shredder...
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There is some really good *modern* classical music being written these days. Of course, there is still too much junk that needs to be deposited into the shredder...
Even were any of this granted, which I don't...
...who gets to decide?
I always feel like I'm doing research in some archives with Montefalco. I see someguy is posting here too and it's a fine opportunity to reconsider my own position, to revisit an old theme, to demand more precision from my own mind.
position no. 1: a good work of music is like a good book: the author is sharing her/his grey matter in a most intimate manner and, for that reason, "copycats" just won't have much of an impact. So, a good work, whatever the style, will involve dragging you in there intellectually and emotionally, becoming part of the mental process. If you're drawn, not by style, but by the artistic exercise, then the author has succeeded. If you resist, from the onset, because of preconceived ideas about "style" then you won't be drawn into the work, will you?
position no. 2: in every walk of life one finds all kinds of personalities, from the superficial self-actualizer to the isolated self-reflecting individual who is utterly oblivious to public reaction. Style does not guarantee depth, any style. Remain evaluative within a style, not of a whole style.
position no. 3: some things are best expressed in a given style. If you're conveying in music your response to/ impression or experience of millions of people being butchered then romanticism is not the best style. If you wish to express musically breathing northern lights in places very far removed from the great artistic capital of this world, you had bettere have experienced these northern lights from very close, not from Berlin, Vienna, or Rome conservatories! If you wish to express, as accurately as humanly possible, the unique bird songs of the Grand Canyon, oh no, don't rely on all the unnatural sounds generated to entertain the royalties of Europe!!!
position no. 4: the spiritual in music is very personal and to follow any conventional model can potentially defeat the personal expressio of spirituality. After all, it's a vision quest, isn't it, not a quest for public approval.
But, in the end, all of these positions are mere philosophical opinions because Mr. Dollar rules and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker will remain a favorite at Christmas time, and Mr. Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf will draw far more people, families, than his more "esoteric" works, because it's all about entertainment, not about spirituality, realism, or intellectual depth, because we're just happy with a recognizable repertoire and we want to assess how this 76th performance of the same work measures up to the others. C'est nous. This is who we are.
Hi Montefalco,
I'll send you a private message with some thoughts I have.
Cheers,
CD :tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat:
Hello someguy,
You ask a fantabulous question - For some, it is the editors/ contributors of the cultural columns belonging to the major flagship dailies in America's biggest cities - Heaven forfend if their tenderly precious *oral diarrhea* comes into question. Yea, for they are the ajudicators of what is fine culture and music. NOT!!!
Respectfully submitted,
CD :tiphat::tiphat::tiphat::tiphat:
Corno, I invite you to take responsibility for your own assertions.
What is the "really good *modern* classical music being written these days"?
What is the "junk that needs to be deposited into the shredder..."
Ok everyone, I'll bite........
Morten Lauridsen's *O Magnum Mysterium* does wonders for the stricken soul.
Tikhon Khrennikov's *Завод* (Factory) An unenlightened paean to the factory workers collective. Tikhon Khrennikov was the chief music critic employed by Stalin. Khrennikov viciously *shot down* many of the works of Shostakovich. Khrennikov's utterances almost sent Shostakovich to Stalin's death camps in the far Eastern reaches of Siberia.
It is interesting to note that the music of Shostakovich is such a firm part of the Orchestral Canon(repertoire) whilst Khrennikov is forgotten in the dustbin of history.
To be continued?........
Or maybe its *gang-up on CD time* :lol::clap::grin:
Ps. J.H.C. provides a definite antidote in his latest assertion *If it upsets anyone else, then "Tough baby tough"*
(Personally, I only use my shredder to dispose of incriminating evidence. :eek:)