Klarinet Archive - Posting 001376.txt from 1998/07

From: "George Landis" <George@-----.org>
Subj: Re: RE: RE: [kl] some modern music is just trash to me
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 15:41:49 -0400

You're correct, some of it is really silly stuff. And I've suffered =
through many pieces like you describe. But, every once in a while, there's =
a real jewel that shows up.=20

I don't know if what I consider the jewels will ever find a permanent =
place in the literature, but they were enjoyed and seemingly appreciated =
by the players and, most important, the audience.

What I hate to see is the current attitude, particularly on the part of =
many younger people, rejecting all things modern or "atonal" out of =
hand.=20

In my experience, most composers invest a great deal of themselves in =
their works and deserve a hearing and serious consideration (at least =
until they ask me to beat on my horn with drumsticks). To see an audience =
go running for the doors before they've settled in and at least tried to =
get into the piece being performed is a sad testament to our times.

Regards

>>> "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com> 07/30 2:14 PM >>>
Please note the word "some" in the header. =20

I appreciate how tastes change over time--heck, I even like to eat
vegetables now--but there is some of this stuff that will never be
"appreciated" as art because it's not. =20

There is much stuff written today that will be deservedly filtered =
out--like
the piece (of excrement) I "played" 2 years ago in which I was instructed =
to
strike my clarinet with a drumstick. (Please note that the "composer" was
very explicit--a wood block wouldn't do, as he wanted the audience to
"visualize our anger" as we stuck our actual instruments. The sound was
irrelevant. I am not making this up.)

I play a lot of new music. My orchestra has won a number of ASCAP awards
for featuring new music--we have premiered 50 works by Northwest composers
in the last 10 years. Some of these pieces were outstanding, but not all.
Some of this stuff is excruciatingly bad--and time won't do anything but
make it stink more. =20

-----Original Message-----
From: George Landis [mailto:George@-----.org]=20
Subject: Re: RE: [kl] some modern music is just trash to me

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