THE CLASSICAL KICK

posted by James Reel

    NewMusicBox has published an essay by composer Roger Rudenstein that’s exactly on the mark in its account of how classical music lost favor with the American public in the 1960s and later, and what can be done to advance the classical cause today. One thing Rudenstein is not afraid to make clear is that “classical music is an important art form and potentially achieves more depth and complexity than popular forms, however wonderful those are.” In other words, all music is not created equal, and by certain standards and for certain purposes, classical music can be superior to other kinds. (Too often, however, it is not.) Rudenstein observes that since the 1960s, classical music has been a “victim of shallow populism that has been a reaction to arrogant elitism.” Part of that elitism can be traced to the audience-unfriendly Modernist style, but that wasn’t the entire problem. Writes Rudenstein:

I doubt, however, that rejection of modernism is what drove Baby Boomers away from classical music. They weren't there in the first place. Part of their act of rebellion was to put a minus sign on anything their parents found important and classical music was seen as part of the conformity and stuffiness of the middle class life they rejected. To make matters worse, music education in the schools was gutted as the post-war prosperity waned and brought massive school budget cutbacks. So, it can't really be said that most Baby Boomers and, especially, the generations following, considered classical music and then rejected it. It was simply not an option.

    Now, I have nothing against elitism, as long as it isn’t arrogant, which it was in Modernist circles 40 and 50 years ago, and in their arrogance Modernist composer helped dig classical music’s early grave. That grave hasn’t yet been filled, though, Rudenstein’s essay is titled “Classical Music: Alive and Kicking,” and the composer offers several good ideas about how to keep it that way. Please do read the full article.

PULLING 'STRINGS'

posted by James Reel

    The latest issue of Strings magazine is online, and a fair chunk of it is by yours truly. Most prominent is the cover feature on a fine violinist with whom you may be unfamiliar:

    Yumi Hwang-Williams started playing new music quite casually, back when she was a violin student at the Curtis Institute. At the time, the school didn’t have a big composition program, and getting new scores performed was pretty informal. “The composers were there, you’d make friends, and they’d ask you as a favor to learn a piece for a class or concert,” recalls Hwang-Williams.
    Not exactly high-profile premieres back then.
    Today, in contrast, the violinist spends a great deal of her time playing freshly inked scores by such leading composers as Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Thomas Adès. Most of these opportunities come to her via her work as concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Cabrillo Music Festival, in both cases under conductor Marin Alsop.
    “She’s obviously someone I think very, very highly of,” says Alsop, who moved this year to the Baltimore Symphony. “For a violinist of her caliber in this stage of her career, if you have the talent it’s a wonderful way to make a statement by championing these new works rather than yet again playing the Mendelssohn concerto. Why bother with that? She can bring something unique and new to all these new pieces. She’s an extremely conscientious musician. She likes to delve deeply into the music, and she’s become close with the composers whose works she’s performed.”

    You’ll find the whole article here. Then, if you’re a practicing string player, you may want to move on to my article on warm-up techniques. I admit that I took the lazy way out on this piece: One of the sources is a friend of mine, Tucson’s own Harry Clark, cellist of Chamber Music Plus Southwest; the other is my sister-in-law. Finally, the magazine reprints an article I wrote several years ago on how string players can master the fiddling technique called the chop.