tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post3145982822320172446..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Ensemble PlayingBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-21122728057691422922019-07-12T21:18:01.152-05:002019-07-12T21:18:01.152-05:00Quite right!Quite right!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-48754134359507093182019-07-12T17:09:53.603-05:002019-07-12T17:09:53.603-05:00In the past classical orchestras played the same w...In the past classical orchestras played the same whether Baroque, Classical, Romantic or Modern. There is much better differentiation by style than there used to be. I am no fan of current pop music at least as much for the production values as the content but younger (under 50) audiences have been raised with pop music. So it is helping that classical musicians are paying more attention to their often very sloppy playing. But yes some late Romantic music doesn't suffer as much from variable synchronization because of the way it was written. And I should clarify that I do not mean military band synchronization levels. The problem lies mainly below C4.Maurynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-37702624573909755712019-07-12T16:14:00.629-05:002019-07-12T16:14:00.629-05:00Yes, I'm sure the HIP movement has tightened u...Yes, I'm sure the HIP movement has tightened up a lot of string sections, but a lot of that has to do with the different kind of phrasing in Baroque or Classical music versus in the Romantic repertoire orchestras spend so much time with. Ensemble is about a lot more than just coordinating downbeats. In a lot of classical music you have to coordinate crescendos, rallentandos, over-dotting and other things. The problem with pop music for me these days is that it is all drum machines.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-60378136025283278542019-07-12T15:29:59.864-05:002019-07-12T15:29:59.864-05:00Thank you for writing about this neglected topic a...Thank you for writing about this neglected topic at least in the classical world. Emmanuel Ax got involved with playing some of Astor Piazzola's works in the 90s. When Ax was asked about his experience in doing that compared to classical works he said the big difference was the lack of attention paid to rhythmic coordination or "groove" in classical orchestras. I suppose one of the values of the HIP movement in Baroque and Early Music was making it easier to play the darn works with some kind of rhythmic elan. In going to classical concerts more recently I do hear some modest improvement so that it is one area where omnipresent pop music may actually be improving classical music performance.Maurynoreply@blogger.com