tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post8434095104260819247..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Hilary Hahn in 3 PartsBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85726365572270342412019-07-18T07:20:47.042-05:002019-07-18T07:20:47.042-05:00This reflects a broad historical shift. In the lat...This reflects a broad historical shift. In the late 18th century, composers were still largely at the service of their noble listeners. The aesthetic bargain was something like, yes, we will compose music that will move and delight you on the condition that you have refined musical tastes. As the 19th century progressed the middle-class music-consuming public wanted more flashy and sentimental music. Composers provided this, but also created the Romantic style that gave a prominence to deep, not shallow, feeling. In the 20th century the most prominent composers in the modernist style fell back on relying solely on their internal musical intuition and turned away from simply pleasing the audience. The reasons why this happened are multitudinous and complex!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-49620689935959760412019-07-17T17:32:20.366-05:002019-07-17T17:32:20.366-05:00What I find frustrating is the degree to which the...What I find frustrating is the degree to which these talented composers are shooting themselves and the general classical music biz in the foot and other locations. It is one thing to be self indulgent or self referential when you are doing things that personally interest you. But when a top soloist commissions you to do something, the first second and third requirement is making that soloist look good and only fourth doing something that reflects credit on your own skill.Maurynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85686842159196916432019-07-14T19:01:20.988-05:002019-07-14T19:01:20.988-05:00My mother played and I have worked with several vi...My mother played and I have worked with several violinists, but not being one myself the technical subtleties pass me by. But yes, I think that most of the composers were trying to avoid writing anything like a traditional violin encore.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-25419188109273832052019-07-14T15:34:16.815-05:002019-07-14T15:34:16.815-05:00As a former high school orchestra violinist (Back ...As a former high school orchestra violinist (Back row of the first violins)I found this a very interesting set to listen to. First of all, apparently all but a few of these composers have No idea what an Encore piece is. Second, I would say #17 Marc Anthony Turnage was the closest to a reasonable entry. Third, I thought using very lax criteria that additionally #1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 24 were at least likely to not totally frost her audience. <br /><br />Fourth, it seems pretty clear that these composers think of orchestral violin parts as their model rather than soloist parts. The vast majority were not idiomatic to the instrument and I am not limiting myself to a 18th or 19th C standard. For example one should Never start a soloist violin part with pizzicato and in fact pizzicato should be avoided except possibly for a few strummed double stops or chords.Maurynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-53811951458851647742014-02-17T14:30:33.026-06:002014-02-17T14:30:33.026-06:00The reasons you give are pretty much exactly the o...The reasons you give are pretty much exactly the ones that occurred to me and got me going on this project. This is certainly not a comprehensive look at the current state of affairs in music, but it is a cross-section. A cross-section can tell you a lot more than a half-baked generalization.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-10858522424266569212014-02-17T13:31:21.651-06:002014-02-17T13:31:21.651-06:00Sounds like an interesting project, in the sense t...Sounds like an interesting project, in the sense that it could be seen as a sample of today's classical music. Many composers with many different styles on the same CD. Ofc, it's generalizing (obviously 27 pieces by 27 different composers is far from representative of all contemporary classical music). But it's still interesting, it can in a sense give us a hint of today's state of classical music, using the music itself rather than articles saying that classical music is dead or alive. I think we need more projects like this. I will read your posts and try to listen to the pieces (or at least the samples) when I have time. Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.com