Klarinet Archive - Posting 000185.txt from 2005/06

From: HILARY NICHOLLS <hilarynicholls@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: contemporary music
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 17:30:56 -0400

YOu're right that modern music datews back quite a
long way now
I'm definitely into 21st century music - but how about
Arvo Part, Gyorg Kurtag or Ligeti? I find they have
much morem to say than Adams or Reich who I find
gimmicky and shallow

--- Benjamin Maas <benmaas@-----.com> wrote:

> Well, it looks like Joseph beat me to the punch, but
> I must say I get tired
> of this elitist, "holier than thou" attitude that is
> displayed to
> contemporary music on a regular basis. Not
> everything is Mozart or Brahms
> and personally, I'm happy about it. Even
> Stravinsky's stuff is fast
> approaching a century old (we're only 5 years out
> from 100 years since
> Firebird).
>
> We, as players, need to continue to support our
> composers of today.
> Obviously, some pieces will be better than others,
> but we haven't had the
> filter of time to week out the crap and keep the
> good stuff. There was
> plenty of crap back in the classical era, too... We
> just don't usually hear
> it because it has been lost over time. If we don't
> support today's
> composers, we won't get to choose between the good
> and the bad stuff because
> it won't be there at all...
>
> Just because something is atonal/12-tone or serial
> doesn't mean it is a bad
> piece. I happen to really like Gnarly Buttons as I
> do a number of other
> contemporary concertos. To see it performed live is
> quite exciting (and the
> cow's moo is pretty cool, too... I love to see an
> audiences face when they
> hear that). John Adams is one of the great
> minimalist composers (actually,
> he self-describes himself as post minimalist).
>
> Also, I have noticed that there has been a rather
> major shift in writing
> over the past 15-20 years away from the Milton
> Babbitt "who cares if you
> listen" school of writing. We have a generation of
> composers who grew up on
> rock and roll and it is definitely reflected in
> their music. Also,
> composers are writing more on the emotion of the
> music rather than the math
> of music and because of that, you have music that is
> much more accessible to
> a general audience. They still rely on many 20th
> century techniques, but
> frame them in a way that an audience can accept much
> easier..
>
> Folks- there are a lot of very educated people on
> this list that impart
> great knowledge. However, let's try to be a bit
> more tolerant of music that
> is other than the "classics."
>
> --Ben
>
> Benjamin Maas
> Fifth Circle Audio
> Los Angeles, CA
> http://www.fifthcircle.com
>
>
>
>
>
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Hilary Nicholls
103 Cheadle Road
Cheadle Hulme
Cheshire
SK8 5DQ
0161 485 3844

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