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Originally Posted by Annie What I meant was that the "Popular" music of this era is no where near symphonies. Because of this, many people don't want to listen to them. |
When I go into a real music store (as opposed to a punk teen music store), the largest section is ALWAYS classical music. Why is that? Because we, as a culture, dislike classical music? I don't think so.
Because orchestras don't invite gangsta rappers to perform with them, they are going downhill? Hardly. MTV did a bang up job on the Superbowl show.
No, a reading of what goes on in the political scene in orchestras is disturbing. Auditions without winners? Programming that is not for the audience, but to fill some director's ego? What you BUY at the music store is not what is programmed during a concert. Egos and politics may ruin the American orchestra scene. LA, Chicago, NY will always have great symphonies -- we hope. But will Indy, Denver, and Miami?
Drum and Bugle Corps and marching bands all over the nation are playing renditions of classical pieces. Music students will know classical music quite well.
Good music transcends. Bad politics and over-inflated egos kill the sound. Why do orchestras resort to plastic shields? Why are players wearing ear plugs? Egos. Even in my symphonic band, we have one bass trombone player who doesn't even have the foggiest idea of what mezzo piano is, much less pianissimo. Doesn't care either.
All you have to do is read Doug Yeo's or Jay Friedman's wedsites to hear about how loud the egomaniac trombones can be. The brass can wipe out the strings and woodwinds -- and they often do. Sounds like crap. They sound good in recordings because they can be mixed professionally. First we had medium bore horns, then medium-large, and now large and in the case of trombones, obscenely large bores.
A good player can make any bore sound good. But sometimes, they buy big horns to "fill them up." They're heard alright. Into the poor house of crappy sound. The sad thing is that these same horns could blend oh so beautifully -- if the player wanted them too.
Projection is always mentioned before "blending." If they programmed something everyone knew, they would have to play it well because there would be well-known recordings to be compared to. It would expose how bad some symphonies sound. Have a small symphony play Bolero, The Overture of 1812, The William Tell Overture, and First Movement of Beethoven's 5th on the same program. Never happen -- too many people know what they should sound like.
Who wants to pay $50 to $200 a seat to hear crap? If people had to really compete for a job and directors answered to a board of directors who answered to the number of tickets sold (rather than benefactors) the music would get better.
The best players may be there -- but in too many cases they don't play their best. Politics trumps all.
Now I need to go practice playing very loud so I can play in a Ska band and project my nasty sound
M&C