Darth Vader having a beer with Lorin Maazel
31.10.2010
Facebook seems to be a very good forum for spontaneous discussion. For me it is pretty much like going to a pub, you hang out with your friends and might get to know some new people. Like in a pub, you might get dragged into an interesting discussion.
A few weeks ago there was a discussion about Vienna Philharmonic playing music of John Williams. That is, in deed, news per se and deserves a WTF or a LMAO easily. But there were a couple of arguments that made me think about our cultural climate again. A renown Finnish conductor commented the news pretty much with an "O tempora, o mores"-kind of feeling. He talked about the golden era of the European orchestras, when the only thing mattered was the music. A colleague of his responded defending Williams and his music, pointing how it is well orchestrated and how he can build tensions and expectations.
Well...first of all, John Williams wrote most of his music for films. In my opinion it is excellently written music, and the movies wouldn't be half as good without it. Every time I hear a piece from a film (Star Wars, E.T., Schindler's List, Indiana Jones, you name it...) I return to the atmosphere of the film. Nevertheless, I think that a film as whole is a work of art, one part of it is not too interesting. A concert with Williams' film scores only would not be my first choice. Even though I am a big fan.
The more interesting part is the reason why the Vienna Philharmonic plays film music. Is it because of their sincere interest and the passion for the film scores of John Williams? If yes, then why not?! But I highly doubt it. The reason is that even the very best orchestras of the world need money. They also want to have a wider audience, most likely with the idea that once a person hears a movie theme he recognizes he might come again to hear Bruckner. My position is not to judge this kind of thinking, maybe it works in some cases. Also the pointless antagonism between classical and "light music" couldn't be less interesting, the so-called discussion is full of prejudiced arguments. The question is: do orchestras and individual artists play music they really desire to play?
It seems to me that lots of interesting things are happening in different ensembles. A fantastic example of that is the New York-based Absolute Ensemble. They have done amazingly interesting projects, everything from rearranging Bach to playing with the late Joe Zawinul. I find these kinds of honest and ambitious projects very inspiring. It is like day and night with those classical musicians who play "something else" without really respecting it. That's also in the most cases how it sounds. One shouldn't force music to serve ones own purposes; one should serve the music and bring it to the people.
Comments (3)
Yes!
31.10.2010 16:58 Anonymous
Thank you very much for this reflective view! I agree with you. Serve the music, bring it to the people and enjoy it. It's refreshing to take yourself not too serious, but you should respect the music.
Is the requirement of money a surprise?
03.11.2010 07:55 Rami Ojares
While I sincerely like and agree with your points of view I am astounded by the question:"Do orchestras and individual artists play music they really desire to play?"
Surely no one can stay in a state of absolute desire fulfillment all the time, so the obvious answer is "sometimes". I can almost hear the accusation:"Vienna Philharmonic has given in to worldly temptations, given up their artistic calling and serve nowadays the the false idol of money. At least partly."
So what is the intention of this false god? This false god wants to lower the expectations about the audience. And he has a good reason for it. The audience has not developed an ear for Bruckner but it has learned at school the names Mozart and Beethoven. It feels orchestral music to be utterly boring although the music of John Williams has transported them to new heights of romantic ecstasy in a movie theater. And even though they know that just playing the Star Wars music isn't going to be comparable to the movie experience it still seems like a interesting thing compared to, well let's stick with Bruckner who is just a name they know nothing about.
Let's admit it. If you are not classically trained musician you do know Darth Vader but you don't know and don't care about Lorin Maazel.
Hear the words of the false God:"Are they not your brothers who put bread on your table and roof over your bed? Why would you not want to serve them in your artistic endeavours then? Art made for artists, that's what I call luxury to be preserved only to the very best or to no-good losers!"Dear Rami,
That's a good point, the way I said it was very simplified. It is clear, really, why these kinds of things happen all the time. Even the best artists need to think about where the money comes from. The subjective reaction of mine was sort of threefold:
1) It would be calming for me/us to know that Vienna Philharmonic, one of the top orchestras in the world, could play exclusively the stuff they want to - and STILL get enough money. One might take it as a slightly depressing sign that even a legendary orchestra does not have a 100% free choice.
2) Beeing a big fan of any kind of good music I find it utterly irritating that many classical musicians perform music that they should leave for other people to play. And because a big part of popular music is technically pretty simple, the classical jerks play it often with a "von oben"-attitude instead of really finding out what it is all about. It hardly ever happens vice versa, or how many pop bands play Mozart? I will probably write about this subject separately, it makes my blood cook...:D
3) My intention is to use all of my energy in the direction 'what I find interesting' instead of using my time on the earth complaining about things. That's why I mentioned Absolute Ensemble, check it out! Or the way how intensively the Fauré Quartet concentrated on the pop songs they recorded.
By the way, all the classical nerds know Darth Vader, perhaps you could use Google and find out about Anton Bruckner and Lorin Maazel:)
-Jarkko-
04.11.2010 10:27
Maybe artists do those kinds of works, playing music they don't desire, just to, afterwards, being able to play what they really love. It's called prostitution and I guess the discussion could dig a lot deeper than just reflecting about the "cultural climate". I think that if we all took a closer look at our own life we'd find ourself doing the same thing no matter what business we're in.
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