Tag: 06.23.05

Art In Musical Terms

There is a relationship, but does one describe the other? “The notion was to take the novelty of abstract art, so radical before World War I that it could hardly be imagined, and justify it by comparison to music. If a Beethoven string quartet could be understood and admired on its own terms, without imagining that it painted a sonic picture of the world, visual art should have the same freedom to escape from rendering reality. The notes and timbres and structures of music could be compared to the colors and textures and forms of a painting; a talented artist could assemble them into a visual “composition” every bit as affecting, meaningful and praiseworthy as anything that goes on in a fancy concert hall.”

Visual Shorthand – How We Talk About Music

“Unless you use the specialist’s language of musicology and talk in terms that only musicians would understand, to put music into words you must borrow ideas from other art forms and the senses to which they appeal. Making sense of music requires that we speak as if we have seen it, or smelled it, or felt it with our hands. So flutes make bright tones, trombones dark ones. Composers, we say, work like architects, structuring sound, building arches of melody. At one moment, musicians may play dense or textured sounds, at another, thin and airy ones. Even the most basic musical terms — high notes, low notes — are described with spatial metaphors. What’s the “high” point on a piano string?”

Montreal Symphony Cancels Summer Season Because Of Strike

“On paper, 13 concerts are affected by the move, which an OSM statement blamed on the musicians’ strike that began on May 9. In fact, several of the OSM’s concert partners had already withdrawn their invitations to perform, for fear of a long strike. The OSM is usually the most active of Canadian orchestras in the hot months, with habitual engagements at the Lanaudière Festival, and at concerts in parks and other civic spaces.”

Karen Kain To Lead Canada’s National Ballet

Karen Kain, arguably Canada’s most beloved dancer, will be appointed artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada. “Ms. Kain, 54, succeeds James Kudelka, whose surprise resignation from the post last month takes effect June 30. Mr. Kudelka has said he wants to spend more time creating ballets and less time dealing with the administrative headaches often associated with the job. For seven years, Ms. Kain has been the company’s artistic associate under Mr. Kudelka.”

San Jose Nudges Up Arts Funding

The city of San Jose, CA has increased its arts funding a tiny bit – to $2 million next year. “The funding jump, up from $1.8 million last year, is the first since 2001-02 when the city awarded $3.9 million in grants. Before Tuesday’s vote, arts funding had steadily declined each fiscal year, which begins July 1 ends June 30.”

We Got Music… Your Way!

“Forget the album and corporate radio. Fan-built playlists and mixes are taking over the way people get their music. The popular iPod shuffle is designed around the idea that people like pairing reggae and pop with country and jazz. But music fans are ahead of corporate-endorsed playlists, putting their own clever twists on mixes by holding mixing contests, auto-generating playlists from blog posts and collaborating with others to build theme mixes. People are choosing what they want to hear rather than having it pushed on them.”

After Two Years Of Looting Iraqi Art…

“Archaeological sites in southern Iraq have been systematically looted for more than two years, but experts say the dig will have to go much deeper to find out where thousands of lost artefacts have ended up. The complete lack of knowledge is devastating. One article said that a billion Iraqi dinars worth of artefacts had been smuggled to Syria, but that’s absurd. We just don’t know what’s gone.”