“Why has Elgar failed to find favor outside England? Is his music really ‘untranslatable’? Or might the problem instead be extra-musical? Even inside England, after all, there has always been a small but vocal cadre that has objected to Elgar’s music for reasons that have little to do with its merits.”
Tag: 07.04
Have We Put A Halt To Evolution?
“It is easy to argue that many, perhaps most, of us would not have survived to pass on our genes without the benefits of modern technology. Now that we have eliminated many of the worst infectious diseases from our cities, some even say that we are no longer subject to the destiny of natural selection. For 21st-century human beings, could evolution have come to a full stop?”
Philly Orchestra Management Takes On Musicians On Website
Contract negotiations between orchestra musicians and managements usually take place behind closed doors, but the increasingly contentious talks currently ongoing in Philadelphia have apparently escalated into open warfare. This week, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s board chairman launched a new corner of the ensemble’s web site, entitled “Securing the Future,” which advertises itself to be an informational update on the negotiations while declaring that “it is our musicians’ turn to share responsibility.” Highlighted on the new site’s front page is a fiery declaration that “Our current trade agreement is a roadmap to extinction.”
Collecting Big – The World’s Art Collectors
ARTnews has compiled its annual list of the world’s top art collectors. “When do you become a serious collector who might make the Top Ten, and how long do you remain one? It kicks in at about the age of 45. Of course, you’ve got to be extremely wealthy. Usually, you’re not willing to spend lots of money on art unless you reach that age and you have the confidence to do it. It lasts for about eight to ten years.”
Pulitzer Music Changes And The Comfort Zone
What’s wrong with changes in eligibility for the Pulitzer Prize in music? “On the face of it, the changes instituted are small. The Prize will no longer be for a musical work of “significant dimension,” as the Board seems to feel that such language has tended to prevent composers of shorter pieces from submitting their work. The press release also states that the changes are intended to broaden the types of works available for review to include jazz, musical theater, movie scores “and other forms of musical excellence.” Never mind that such works have actually been eligible since the last overhaul of the Music Prize’s rules, the real problem that I have is how this restated emphasis on broadening the scope of musical works under consideration bespeaks the essential discomfort that the Pulitzer Prize Board has with art music.”
Ready For My Close-up? Awww, Forget It!
The new generation of movies has abandoned the close-up. “This trend towards wide shots is in part explained by the landmark technological changes which cinema is undergoing. Those who doubt that the digital revolution is significant should consider the fact that the two previous occasions on which film “went wide” and turned to stories set in classical times were the 1950s – after the switch to the various widescreen processes such as CinemaScope – and the very first decades of filmmaking, when audiences were still agog and directors such as Cecil B DeMille presented frieze-like tableaux of classical excess. Both were formative moments, and so is the present one. In each of these three periods, producers and directors who were faced with a new technology fell back on primitive, likeable, pre-cinematic ideas of showmanship.”
The New Jazz (But What?)
In the past two decades jazz has been transformed as an artform. “While some argue in favor of this evolution of jazz onto the concert stage, into museums, and onto the archival stacks of various institutions, others see it as dangerous to the continued evolution of a living, breathing, and constantly advancing art form. Regardless of opinion, jazz has most assuredly found its place on the concert stage.”
The Tale Of The Failed Lit Prize
Zoo Press decided to stage a fiction prize patterned on its successful annual poetry prize. But a year after the prizes were announced, both contests were canceled — no winners were chosen, and no entry fees were refunded. The storm of protest was predictable…