Klarinet Archive - Posting 001122.txt from 1998/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Grand Canyon - 1st Clarinet Part
Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 06:08:43 -0400

At 11:04 PM 5/19/98 -0500, Ed Lacy wrote:
>On Tue, 19 May 1998, Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
>> At 09:10 AM 5/19/98 -0500, Ed Lacy wrote:
>> >
>> > My observation is that over a period of 40 years or so, the Grand
>> > Canyon Suite is falling into disfavor. It may before long essentially
>> > disappear from the orchestral repertoire.
>> >
>> That figures. Find a piece that the audience likes and stamp it out, since
>> it is obviously unworthy!
>
>I know that you are expressing your frustration that a piece you
>apparently like is not as popular as it once was, and I also realize that
>there is a bit of hyperbole and sarcasm in your message. But, I'm also
>quite sure that you don't really believe that there is somewhere a secret
>organization dedicated to finding out which pieces of music are liked by
>someone or by a large audience, and, just in order to irritate the public,
>issuing directives that they should never be played. Orchestras aren't
>actually withholding the "plums" of the repertoire just to aggravate their
>audiences.
>
Thank you for your detailed explanation of the process of choosing
repertoire. As you correctly surmised, I was being somewhat sarcastic. I
also do not put "Grand Canyon Suite" in the same league with, say,
Beethoven's 9th. But as the song goes, "A spoonful of sugar helps the
medicine go down." Programming popular works, even if they are not the
conductor's/committee's favorites, should help overall attendance, and
expose more people to the "meaty" stuff in the same concert. I would
hardly expect, nor would I find desireable, an "all pops, all the time"
format, except from those orchestras that are dedicated to that function.
I just think that an "ivory tower" mentality sometimes causes the musicians
to get too far ahead of the public in matters of musical taste. The desire
for something new and exciting to the musicians leaves the audience's
desire for something soothing and familiar in the dust. I only ask that
this be considered when programming concerts. Balance is the key.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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