There’s been a rash of east coast-west coast tension over the last couple of weeks on the tiny island that New Music exists on, with an unusual amount of humor tempering all the banter. This latest round of Montagues and Capulets-esque feuding started with a lively LA Times review of the wild Up performance at Beyond Baroque in L.A. that started with a bit of a jab at a certain handful of composers who reside in Brooklyn. Some of the composers in question seemed rather taken aback that someone would call into question their music - in fact the very foundation that they’ve tried build their ideals upon - and publicly decried the article as being in poor taste and wondering why there was so much hatred being directed at them. Following that there were the west-leaning Grammy nominations. Most recently, a new article in The New York Times seems intent on leaving out reams of music history, the vast majority of contemporary composers and New Music scenes in other cities in favor of promoting a small group of composers who live in New York. Though, perhaps it all boils down to press for some of us. New York’s press is international, whereas here in Seattle, which has an extraordinary music scene of all sorts, the press is mainly only read locally - and even the veracity of that statement is increasingly questionable as the reporting on music (all music, not just New Music) is minimal at best…and often only reports other reporting. Surely a broader picture would’ve been painted if only there were more people writing about the goings on outside of New York.
But I digress – luckily, humorous diversions abound these days to lighten the mood such as this wonderful new mechanism for generating program notes or grant proposals. There’s this cute video, and then there’s this remarkable collection of photographs documenting curious ideas new and old. Perhaps this humor will get us through to age 103, as Elliot Carter will do on Sunday. Happy Birthday Mr. Carter – your music was the first contemporary music I ever played when I was in high school – thanks for the continuing inspiration.
But I digress – luckily, humorous diversions abound these days to lighten the mood such as this wonderful new mechanism for generating program notes or grant proposals. There’s this cute video, and then there’s this remarkable collection of photographs documenting curious ideas new and old. Perhaps this humor will get us through to age 103, as Elliot Carter will do on Sunday. Happy Birthday Mr. Carter – your music was the first contemporary music I ever played when I was in high school – thanks for the continuing inspiration.
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