tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6805899293904222612..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Crossover MushBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-61550044444334131132015-07-31T07:52:01.368-05:002015-07-31T07:52:01.368-05:00Yes, sometimes, as in those phrases that set off y...Yes, sometimes, as in those phrases that set off your snob alert, I do say things to get a rise out of people!<br /><br />I can't think of a composer I admire more than Haydn...<br /><br />As for the clip, now that really is crossover.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-49779311020049154792015-07-30T23:42:01.914-05:002015-07-30T23:42:01.914-05:00Expressed this way I can't help but agree.
Th...Expressed this way I can't help but agree. <br />Thanks for the Haydn symphony today. It's lovely to wake up to these posts<br /><br />a piece of crossover for you:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFVhSDQmIxsChristine Lacroixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59774808517812241872015-07-30T16:20:13.733-05:002015-07-30T16:20:13.733-05:00Anyone expressing their sincere opinion cannot pos...Anyone expressing their sincere opinion cannot possibly annoy me! After all, that is what I do. The thing is that while pop music is economically dominant and seems very high tech, to someone with serious musical training it seems rather like it comes off an assembly line. I recall reading about a young woman--I forget her name, but she was the 20 year old daughter of a Montreal politician--who took up the electric bass and six months later was the bass player for quite well known and successful band off on a world tour. This is not impossible in the pop music world. The reason is that the genres and the techniques required to play them are fairly simple constructions even though this is skillfully concealed by a lot of studio wizardry. Much pop music is the recreation of a fairly small set of formulas with a new hook and lyrics. The important thing these days is really the video and the choreography.<br /><br /><br />Compare this to the training necessary to become a classical musician and I think you might see why we don't take pop music that seriously. Mozart is the great child prodigy of all time. His father was a well-known violinist and his teacher from the earliest age. Mozart, by age 11, was a fully-trained professional composer. Most people, to reach a similar level, would need several years of private instruction on an instrument followed by intensive courses in harmony, counterpoint, ear-training, music history and composition. Then, after perhaps five or ten years of that, you would be a trained composer. Not to say that you could write anything good, but if you also had a creative mind, you could.<br /><br />Of course 2Cellos display all the technique of people who have spent the necessary years in the classical discipline.<br /><br />A pop musician setting out to write classical music without this kind of training is simply a bumbling amateur. The fact that they are treated with great reverence by the music critics simply means that the music critics are also untrained amateurs. Or they were bribed.<br /><br />On the other hand, some pop musicians are great creative artists, just not classical ones. Bob Dylan is a songwriter without peer, but not a classical composer. The Beatles were an extraordinary creative group, but the classical bits on their recordings were all written or arranged by George Martin, also classically trained.<br /><br />You can call me a snob, but I think "elitist" is more accurate. I think that I am simply aware of what the real differences are between classical musicians and pop musicians.<br /><br />I tend not to like any of the covers or arrangements of Beatles songs because I regard a large part of the "composition" to be those unique and special things they did in the recording process to make the songs so original.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-19194171999700953602015-07-30T14:09:46.619-05:002015-07-30T14:09:46.619-05:00HI Bryan
You said: "But what irks me is the ...HI Bryan<br /><br />You said: "But what irks me is the deference given to pop artists who are really just pop musicians even though they are trying to write "classical" music Whoa!! That really does sound a snobby! JUST pop musicians! Yikes!<br /><br />You said : "How does cranking out pop albums for a few years imply that you can actually compose real music?" Real music? What on earth is that? Another snob alert there. And I'd like to ask how a child Mozart managed to compose without having a masters degree in musicology? Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that if more people had the courage to make attempts at producing any kind of music we'd have a better chance of finding some hidden talent?<br /><br />You also said: "And another thing I notice is the humility of those who are trying to create good music. As opposed to the pretension of these folks." Is humility really reserved for the good musicians and pretension the bad? That's news to me, but I guess it's possible. It takes a certain amount of courage to expose yourself by trying something new though, doesn't it? Is it pretentious? <br /><br />If I haven't thoroughly annoyed you with this post I'd really like to know what you thought of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra's renditions of the Beatles songs!<br /><br /><br /> Christine Lacroixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-88673318064466166132014-09-08T13:10:25.642-05:002014-09-08T13:10:25.642-05:00Yes I am - my email is spagenkopf@gmail.comYes I am - my email is spagenkopf@gmail.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-65876847614670410062014-09-08T09:12:46.343-05:002014-09-08T09:12:46.343-05:00Sure!! Are you in town?Sure!! Are you in town?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-31220614727048536432014-09-07T23:52:07.444-05:002014-09-07T23:52:07.444-05:00Happy to lend if you are interested :)Happy to lend if you are interested :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-67435933358939236052014-09-07T23:50:07.656-05:002014-09-07T23:50:07.656-05:00They're called The Baroque Chamber Orchestra, ...They're called The Baroque Chamber Orchestra, led by Richard Edlinger. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-27757419582448660192014-09-07T23:05:20.374-05:002014-09-07T23:05:20.374-05:00Who are the musicians?Who are the musicians?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-47419669110000825822014-09-07T22:14:36.442-05:002014-09-07T22:14:36.442-05:00Interestingly, I have a CD of Baroque settings of ...Interestingly, I have a CD of Baroque settings of Beatles' songs and it is surprisingly well done. Like Bach being set in the jazz idiom, I think that truly great music can transfer over from one genre to another because it is intrinsically well-written and solid musically.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-61960196803821936602014-09-07T17:09:14.567-05:002014-09-07T17:09:14.567-05:00I take the position that a piece like "Strawb...I take the position that a piece like "Strawberry Fields" is a kind of "classical" composition according to my somewhat eccentric definition. It is a piece that will stand the test of time, transcending its genre.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-79026962377951027122014-09-07T11:06:05.016-05:002014-09-07T11:06:05.016-05:00Yes sir! Great song, but I'm glad Lennon didn&...Yes sir! Great song, but I'm glad Lennon didn't attempt to write any classical music!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-17554704152893742782014-09-07T08:13:22.809-05:002014-09-07T08:13:22.809-05:00Is that a quote from "Imagine"?Is that a quote from "Imagine"?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-78545849839111330402014-09-06T23:37:40.871-05:002014-09-06T23:37:40.871-05:00You may say that I'm a composer,
But I'm n...You may say that I'm a composer,<br />But I'm not the only one....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-62069085312742592732014-09-06T23:06:39.588-05:002014-09-06T23:06:39.588-05:00Susan, I have the feeling that you are a composer?...Susan, I have the feeling that you are a composer?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-31498631552993223492014-09-06T23:01:29.750-05:002014-09-06T23:01:29.750-05:00Yes, I agree that too many people have no idea wha...Yes, I agree that too many people have no idea what goes in to writing a true classical composition, and to think that just because someone is successful in one genre they can then sit down and dash off a genuine work of art in another genre is gross ignorance. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-70067320911024538882014-09-06T16:50:31.709-05:002014-09-06T16:50:31.709-05:00Oh no! I may be an elitist, but I'm not an idi...Oh no! I may be an elitist, but I'm not an idiot! For example, I think the greatest composers of songs in English are John Dowland, Henry Purcell, Cole Porter, Benjamin Britten, Lennon and McCartney, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.<br /><br />But what irks me is the deference given to pop artists who are really just pop musicians even though they are trying to write "classical" music. Mind you, there are some interesting attempts out there, but not much in the ones mentioned in this article.<br /><br />As Duke Ellington once said, there are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music. And what he didn't say is that there are examples of good (even great) music in virtually every genre.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-77273364112828680722014-09-06T13:22:35.888-05:002014-09-06T13:22:35.888-05:00I do agree with you that blurring the lines betwee...I do agree with you that blurring the lines between classical and pop, etc turns everything to mush, and I think that there is a huge difference in writing a classical composition and a short pop song,but surely you are not saying that the term 'composer' cannot be applied to someone writing music in a different genre than classical? By that standard, Cole Porter isn't a real composer!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02191955122378834307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-5354683601857410822014-09-01T12:26:08.164-05:002014-09-01T12:26:08.164-05:00And another thing I notice is the humility of thos...And another thing I notice is the humility of those who are trying to create good music. As opposed to the pretension of these folks.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-88389758516195456572014-09-01T12:22:15.553-05:002014-09-01T12:22:15.553-05:00Listening to such "attempts" makes you r...Listening to such "attempts" makes you realise how music is a gift to the ones who can make it well.Shantanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09910091531263531496noreply@blogger.com