Andrew Stiller wrote:
On Jan 12, 2007, at 6:44 PM, dhbailey wrote:
The ratio of historical music to contemporary music is hugely in favor
of historical music in opera houses and in orchestral concert halls.
How does that compare to the programming of Mozart's time?
In Mozart's--and all earlier--times, music, indeed any work of art, went
out of fashion in about 50 years, then was never heard from again
regardless of quality. In the 19th c., the idea was introduced that an
artistic work of quality was of permanent value and thus worthy of being
experienced indefinitely into the future. I have a great deal of
difficulty in seeing any downside whatsoever to this idea. Anyway, under
such a regime, the amount of new work in active circulation at any
given time should ideally be proportional to the amount of work in the
canon from any other time period *of the same duration.* Thus, ideally,
the amount of classical music heard this year that was composed betw.
1957 and 2007 should be the same as the amount that was composed between
1850 and 1900. It isn't, but that has nothing to do with performance
conditions in Mozart's time, as can readily be seen if you compare the
1957-2007 figures with those for 1350-1400.
The performance situation for brand-new classical music is in fact much,
much better now than it was even 10 years ago, so that one can now say
that, although the situation remains less than ideal, it certainly falls
within the acceptable range.
I don't see why my comment is a Straw Man.
Well, what you said was:
The band world learned this lesson and continues to support
composers writing today for today's audiences. Why can't the
orchestral, choral and keyboard worlds learn the same lessons?
--which says that the orchl., choral, and keybd. worlds do not, in fact,
"continue to support composers writing today for today's audiences."
This is manifestly untrue, so you've created a straw man. Worse, your
self-congratulatory reference to the band world is more than a little
disingenuous since the modern band (massed clarinets, lots of brass) has
only *one* established classic predating the 20th century (the Berlioz
_Symphonie funebre et triomphale_) and therefore could not overemphasize
old music even if it wanted to.
Wrong -- there is a lot of band literature from the 19th century. That
the band world, as a whole, chooses not to emphasize (or overemphasize)
it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
massed clarinets? What bands have you had the misfortune to listen to?
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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