Klarinet Archive - Posting 000170.txt from 1998/01

From: Ken Bryson <kbryson@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Is Vienna Right?
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 08:17:35 -0500

I recently had the delightful experience of hearing YoYo Ma, the Chinese
cellist raised in France and further educated in the U.S., perform Tango
music of Astor Piazzolla, the Argentinian composer who studied in Paris
with Nadia Boulanger. I heard this concert in Washington, D.C. I think
that any world in which Tango music was protected from impurities by
excluding a non-Latin musician from performing it would be a much poorer
world that the one I am grateful to inhabit. Conversely, as a
performer, I would hate to be restricted to playing ONLY the music of
white, American female composers from the midwest states. Music has
always been an international language, a way of communicating across all
sorts of barriers. Musical cross-fertilization has occurred from the
earlies times, and, I am convinced, has contributed immensely to the
development of the beauty and complexity of musical forms that we enjoy
today. The concept of "white men playing white music for white
audiences" makes me inexpressably sad.

Nancy

Robert E. Winston wrote:
>
> Risking the wrath of those who would prefer yet another round of "Which
> Mouthpiece Is Best," I wonder if anyone would care to defend the VPO's position?
>
> Is there a case to made for cultual consistency in music making? Are the VPO
> musicians bigots or conservators of a unique musical culture? Can a musical
> argument, as opposed to an employment rights case, be made for 'white men
> playing white music for white audiences.'
>
> ________
> Robert E. Winston rwinston@-----.com
>
> VPO Watch:
> <http://www.dorsai.org/~buzzarte/zapvpo.html>