by natchaitkin | Sep 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
I recently spent four days at the Arts Midwest Conference in Minneapolis. I got to present Bach and Boombox on a showcase for presenters and agents, and spoke to lots of people about what I’m doing at my booth.
It’s amazing to see the variety of performers that are out trying to put themselves before the public – musicians, actors, comics, jugglers, hypnotists. I met lots of really dedicated performers and nice people.
What I was constantly reminded of is how classical music is part of this larger world of show business, but isn’t really comfortable there. I met several presenters who liked what the classical performers were doing, but didn’t usually book them because they couldn’t sell enough tickets, or because their audience base didn’t like that sort of thing.
I don’t blame them, but it reinforces the need for us as an industry to continue to be more approachable, both on stage and off. To sell my show, to even call it a show, is a huge shift for me, and I know lots of classical performers and audience members who wouldn’t ever use the word “show” to describe what we do. But from the point of view of the presenters I met (and their audience members), we are in competition with all those comics and jugglers for gigs. Like it or not, we are in the entertainment business.
The art vs. entertainment debate is an old one. But it’s worth remembering that classical music (along with serious theater) used to be presented as part of variety shows, along with all those other kinds of acts that I saw at Arts Midwest.
In a previous post, I mentioned a great book about about how classical music (and other art forms) got separated from more “popular” styles – “Highbrow/Lowbrow – The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America” by Lawrence Levine. 150 years ago, the line between art and entertainment was much blurrier, and I think we need to go back to that time a little.
What do you think? How can classical music be part of the larger “entertainment” world without compromising what makes it great? Please post your comments here!
by natchaitkin | Aug 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
Recently, a radio station in Calgary announced plans to broadcast what they called “twice the music,” which meant edited, significantly shorter versions of pop songs (around 2 minutes), enabling them to play more tunes per hour. You can listen to the NPR story about this here.
As many were quick to point out, this isn’t twice the music, it’s half! Reaction has been largely hostile to the idea, thank goodness. When the NPR host suggested that musicians might not like having their work chopped up, the station’s representative pointed out that for decades, the length of the average pop song has been limited by the 45 (or even 78) rpm records they were originally distributed on, and that this limitation forced musicians to edit their songs for length even as they wrote them.
He’s right, but musicians know that limitation up front! I object, as I suspect many do, to the cuts being made by someone other than the person who wrote the song, and for reasons that have nothing to do with music! Also, as someone who wants to bring new listeners to concert pieces that are often far longer than the average pop song, this certainly doesn’t help!
The representative of the radio station also suggested that people listening on their iPods routinely click from song to song without finishing them – I have certainly seen this in action. The station, he went on, was trying to stay connected to these kinds of listeners. My question to him is, why stop at 2 minute versions of a song? Why not 1 minute, or 30 seconds? Where does it stop?
A good pop song usually includes an introduction, at least two verses, two (or more) shots at the chorus, and (if you’re lucky) a bridge, and three or four minutes doesn’t seem like too much to ask of people to give to a song. On the other hand, many great Beatles songs are 2:30 or less. “Blackbird” clocks in at 2:18, “Eleanor Rigby” at 2:08. Even “We Can Work It Out,” with not one but two passes through one of the greatest bridges of all time, is 2:15.
So, here’s today’s question – what is your favorite really short piece of music? Could be a pop song, or a movement by Anton Webern that might only last 30 seconds! I’ve started a playlist on Spotify of pieces that take care of business quickly (unfortunately, the Beatles songs I mentioned aren’t on there). The playlist is collaborative – please add your favorites! What I find interesting is that the classical pieces I thought of are shorter than the pop songs – the opposite of what I expected! Please share your thoughts and comments!
by natchaitkin | Jul 7, 2014 | Uncategorized
The other night, I stopped at my local UDF, a chain of convenience stores and gas stations. As I walked out, I heard a Beethoven violin sonata coming from the speakers hanging by the front door. They play classical music to keep people from loitering outside, because, really, who could stand to listen to that? I’ve run into this in other places (you may have, too – please post them in the comments!).
Apparently, this practice has a scientific basis – an article in the Toledo Blade explains the effectiveness of “audio aversion.”
Here’s a helpful explanation from a Columbus, Ohio resident: “There’s something about baroque music that macho wannabe-gangster types hate. At the very least, it has a calming effect.”
Wonderful.
If you had any questions about our art’s need for a re-branding, this should convince you! First of all, to rebut this idea that classical music is “relaxing” – I offer you a playlist of the LEAST calm concert pieces I could think of, including a very famous work by Vivaldi, who is often mistakenly put in that “relaxing” bin.
Now, to the UDF issue – here’s what I propose. If you live near one (or another place that does this sort of thing), go get yourself a milkshake and stand outside listening. Let’s turn this thing on its head and stick around for the music, instead of being chased away by it. Or bring the music on the playlist and play it in your car with the windows down to offer an antidote to all that “relaxation.” Who knows, maybe we can get UDF to include Bartok and Stravinsky in their rotation, or at least persuade some customers to give classical music a second thought. Thoughts? Please post your comments!
by natchaitkin | Jun 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
The other day, an American got thrown out of a concert in Britain for crowdsurfing – surely not the first time that’s happened. Here’s the catch – it was at a performance of Handel’s Messiah, and the offender was a Stanford University expert in “non-equilibrium molecular reaction dynamics.” Weren’t expecting that, were you?
The concert was at the Bristol Old Vic, on a series designed to be “accessible and informal” according to its director, Tom Morris, who tells his audiences: “Clap or whoop when you like, and no shushing other people.” The audience stands in a mosh pit in front of the stage and beer is allowed.
The offender, Dr. David R. Glowacki, told the Irish Independent: “Classical music, trying to seem cool and less stuffy, reeks of some sort of fossilized art form undergoing a midlife crisis…Witness what happened to me when I started cheering with a 30-strong chorus shouting ‘praise God’ two metres from my face: I get physically assaulted, knocked down to the floor and forcibly dragged out by two classical vigilantes.”
Once you’ve stopped giggling, there are some things to talk about here. First of all, good for Mr. Morris and the Bristol Old Vic for encouraging audiences to show their appreciation for what they are hearing. Why not try it?
For those of you who disagree and say that clapping and whooping while the music is playing is simply out of bounds, I offer you a letter from Mozart to his father, rejoicing in exactly that behavior at the premiere of the “Paris” symphony. So there.
Seriously, the idea that concertgoers should be quiet and well-behaved is a recent phenomenon – here’s a description of what went on at Baroque Opera houses during performances – some of it would make Silvio Berlusconi blush.
But what about Mr. Glowacki, and the audience members (not the staff of the Old Vic, mind you) who took it upon themselves to toss him out for his behavior? Were they right? Going forward, it appears Mr. Morris has decided to let the crowd decide: “The Bristol Proms are contributing to a ground-breaking way of thinking which will pave the way for a new kind of classical concert. But by allowing an audience to respond in whatever way they want, you also allow an audience to self-regulate, as we discovered.”
Sounds reasonable to me – what do you think? Let’s not forget, audiences already “self-regulate” – anyone who’s ever disturbed a concert hall with a cell phone or cough drop wrapper can attest to that!
So who crossed the line here, if anyone? Did Mr. Morris, by having beer and a mosh pit at the concert? Mr. Glowacki, for trying to crowdsurf? What about those two audience members who threw him out? Maybe they crossed the line from being scolds to, as Mr. Glowacki so vividly termed them, “classical vigilantes.” I’m not sure where I stand on this, but I do like that it’s being talked about! What do you think? Please post your comments!
by natchaitkin | Jun 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
Recently, Sir Mix-a-Lot appeared with the Seattle Symphony to perform his signature song “Baby Got Back,” with orchestration by Gabriel Prokofiev (composer and grandson of the famous Russian). Video of the performance has gone viral on Youtube, with over 2 million views in less than a week.
The concert was a special occasion, for two reasons. It was part of the Symphony’s Sonic Evolution series, premiering new works inspired by pop and jazz legends with a local connection, including Bill Frisell and Jimi Hendrix. It was also part of the League of American Orchestras annual convention, and was offered as a model for new audience development, something orchestras need desperately.
The Sonic Evolution series looks like a very good idea – kudos to Seattle and its music director, Ludovic Morlot, for committing to it over the last few seasons. I assume it’s successful and hope it continues to be.
What I’m interested in here is the appearance by Sir Mix-a-Lot and the reactions it has provoked. As James Oestreich put it in his NY Times review of the concert: “No question, many orchestra managers present must have positively drooled at the energy in the hall and the number of teenagers in the audience.” And let’s not forget those 2 million youtube views – how often does an orchestra concert get that kind of attention?
When you look at the media coverage of the concert, much of it is about the novelty of having Sir Mix-a-Lot and the Seattle Symphony on the same stage – the incongruity was the main attraction.
Later in his review, Oestreich writes: “I won’t presume to review things so far outside my ken as Sir Mix-a-Lot. But I am left to wonder what a symphony orchestra can meaningfully add to this kind of repertory…And how any of this may speak to the future of American orchestras I have to leave to those more visionary than I. Presumably there were some in the audience.”
I hope those orchestra administrators are thinking about Oestreich’s question – I think orchestras and hiphop could do a lot together. What if the next step was a more substantive collaboration between Prokofiev and Sir Mix-a-Lot? Maybe some of those first time visitors to the hall would come back to see what they produced together.
Most pops concerts are designed to bring fans of the headliner to the concert hall – what’s difficult is getting those folks to come back for Mahler the next week.
Making the connection from one to the other is tricky, but as someone who gives programs designed to build that bridge, I’ve got some ideas about how this might work. Good hiphop is imaginative in combining sounds, attentive to words and their rhythm, and often has a strong social message. You could say the same thing about much of Steve Reich‘s music – a piece like his “Different Trains” would be a perfect way to start.
What about a program featuring works of composers who work with sounds and words the way hiphop artists do, like Reich, alongside pieces by hiphop composers themselves?
What about a concerto for DJ Spooky, who’s already collaborated with classical groups like Brooklyn Rider and the Telos Ensemble, or DJ Rekha, who’s sampled late Beethoven Quartets in her work? So, let’s hear some ideas, people! If you are a composer, who from the “pop” world would you like to work with? If you are a pop fan, who would you like to see featured in a collaboration with an orchestra?
