#BlackLivesMatter | The Well-Tempered Ear

Songs by Black composers trace their cultural realities in a free online UW performance TONIGHT of “Verisimilitudes.” Plus, the five winners of this year’s Beethoven Competition perform Sunday.

April 24, 2021
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ALERT: This Sunday, April 25, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. the five winners of this year’s Beethoven Competition at the UW-Madison will perform in a winners’ concert. Included in the program are the popular and dramatic “Appassionata” Sonata, Op. 57, and the famous and innovative last piano sonata, No. 32 in C minor, Op 111. Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMF0Hd1MJwMg. Click on “Show More” and you can see the full programs and biographical profiles of the winners.

By Jacob Stockinger

The concert could hardly be more timely or the subject more relevant.

Think of the events in and near Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S.; of the Black Lives Matter movement and social protest; of the political fight for D.C. statehood and voting rights – all provide a perfect context for an impressive student project that will debut online TONIGHT, Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m.

The one-hour free concert “Verisimilitudes: A Journey Through Art Song in Black, Brown and Tan” originated at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. It seems an ideal way for listeners to turn to music and art for social and political commentary, and to understand the racial subtexts of art.

Soprano Quanda Dawnyell Johnson (below) created, chose and performs the cycle of songs by Black composers with other Black students at the UW-Madison.

Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/-g5hjeuSumw

Click on “Show More” to see the complete program and more information.

Here is the artist’s statement:

“Within the content of this concert are 17 art songs that depict the reality of the souls of a diasporic people. Most of the lyricists and all of the composers are of African descent. In large part they come from the U.S. but also extend to Great Britain, Guadeloupe by way of France, and Sierra Leone.

“They speak to the veracity of Black life and Black feeling. A diasporic African reality in a Classical mode that challenges while it embraces a Western European vernacular. It is using “culture” as an agent of resistance.

“I refer to verisimilitude in the plural. While syntactically incorrect, as it relates to the multiple veils of reality Black people must negotiate, it is very correct.

“To be packaged in Blackness, or should I say “non-whiteness” is to ever live in a world of spiraling modalities and twirling realities. To paraphrase the great artist, Romare Bearden, in “calling and recalling” — we turn and return, then turn again to find the place that is our self.

“I welcome you to… Verisimilitudes: A Journey Through Art Song in Black, Brown, and Tan”

Here, by sections, is the complete program and a list of performers:

I. Nascence

Clear Water — Nadine Shanti

A Child’s Grace — Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson

Night — Florence Price (below)

Big Lady Moon — Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

II. Awareness

Lovely, Dark, and Lonely — Harry T. Burleigh

Grief –William Grant Still (below)

Prayer — Leslie Adams

Interlude, The Creole Love Call — Duke Ellington

III. The Sophomore

Mae’s Rent Party, We Met By Chance –Jeraldine Saunders Herbison

The Barrier — Charles Brown

IV. Maturity

Three Dream Portraits: Minstrel Man, Dream Variation; I, Too — Margaret Bonds (below)

Dreams — Lawren Brianna Ware

Song Without Words — Charles Brown

Legacy

L’autre jour à l’ombrage (The Other Day in the Shade) — Joseph Boulogne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges, below)

The Verisimilitudes Team

Quanda Dawnyell Johnson — Soprano and Project Creator

Lawren Brianna Ware – -Pianist and Music Director

Rini Tarafder — Stage Manager

Akiwele Burayidi – Dancer

Jackson Neal – Dancer

Nathaniel Schmidt – Trumpet

Matthew Rodriguez – Clarinet

Craig Peaslee – Guitar

Aden Stier –Bass

Henry Ptacek – Drums

Dave Alcorn — Videographer

Here is a link to the complete program notes with lyrics and composer bios. And a preview audio sample is in the YouTube video at the bottom: https://simplebooklet.com/verisimilitudesprogramnotes#page=1

Posted in Classical music
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Four local classical musicians perform Black women composers in a virtual holiday concert to benefit the health of Black women

December 23, 2020
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Wisconsin Ensemble (WE) Project, a quartet of local classical musicians, has announced that it will host a holiday concert to support Dane County-based non-profit, the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness (FFBWW, below).

The concert will be the first in a series of performances to benefit local and international organizations working for social justice and human interest.

This unique effort is rooted in the quartet’s desire to not only delve deeply into chamber music repertoire, but also to address some of the many pressing social justice issues of our time.

This recorded, virtual YouTube concert will be available at https://wisconsinensembleproject.com from 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 25, through 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3. — times are CST — where contributions will be accepted via PayPal.

Viewers will hear the story and see the face of the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness woven through quality chamber music by Black women composers performed by WE Project artists violinists Leanne League and Mary Theodore (below ends, in a photo by Katrin Talbot); violist Christopher Dozoryst (second from right); and cellist Karl Lavine. The four play together in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

Pieces they will perform include Strum (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) and Voodoo Dolls by Jessie Montgomery (below top, in a photo by Jiyang Chen); Modes by Dorothy Rudd Moore (below center); and String Quartet in G Major by Florence Price (below bottom).

“This production offers viewers a meaningful program which leads to direct impact,” says WE Project member Mary Theodore who has been working with Foundation staff to coordinate the benefit over the last few weeks.

”We felt strongly about the work of the Foundation as we learned more about their mission to eliminate the startling health and economic disparities Black women face in our community,” adds Theodore. “When you donate and tune in to our concert, you will be helping to cover basic production costs and getting funds directly into the hands of this very worthy organization”.

Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness CEO Lisa Peyton-Caire (below), who launched the Black women’s health advocacy organization in 2012, says the concert is a beautiful example of how community and organizations can partner to drive social change together.

“We are elated that WE Project chose us as their first benefit recipient, and that our mission and work to transform Black women’s health in Wisconsin resonated with them,” said Peyton-Caire. “We know that ultimately it takes all of our effort to solve the inequities in our community, and this benefit concert is a beautiful example of the loving and creative ways we can join forces to do this.”

To learn more about the concert, visit https://wisconsinensembleproject.com, where you can contribute via PayPal anytime beginning now through Jan. 3.

To listen to a recent morning coffee chat between members of the two organizations, go to: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=431169757916539&ref=watch_permalink. Click on individual profiles to hear them.

To learn more about The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, visit https://ffbww.org.

Posted in Classical music
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Will using first names with Beethoven and Mozart help fight racism and sexism in the concert hall?

October 28, 2020
5 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Why do concert programs read simply Beethoven for Beethoven (below top), but Florence Price for Florence Price (below bottom)?

According to a recent controversial essay by Chris White (below), a professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, it reflects and reinforces sexism and racism.

White is calling for universal “fullnaming” to put women composers and composers of color on an equal footing with the traditional canon of dead white male composers. All people may be equal, but all composers and their music are not.

You can certainly make a case for his interesting argument against using “mononyns,” as he calls them. But it still seems less than convincing to many, including The Ear. It many ways it seems downright silly and arbitrary. Isn’t it obvious that not all composers are equal in quality of their work?

It is the latest dustup in the classical music world, coming right on the heels of, and logically linked to, the idea that Beethoven is responsible for sexism and racism in the concert hall and the so-called “cancel culture” that is allied with the social and political protest movements of the past year, including Black Lives Matter.

That was treated here in a previous post: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/did-beethoven-and-his-music-especially-the-iconic-fifth-symphony-foster-racism-exclusion-and-elitism-in-the-concert-hall-the-ear-thinks-that-is-pc-nonsense-what-do-you-think/

Here is a link to the complete article by White about the inclusion and absence of first names as it appeared on Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2020/10/fullname-famous-composers-racism-sexism.html

Funny, The Ear thinks of using only last names as little more than a function of: quality, importance and time; of fame and familiarity; and sometimes of promoting clarity and preventing confusion — not of race or gender.

It is why we say Bach (below) when we mean Johann Sebastian, and why we say Wilhelm Friedemann or Carl Philipp Emmanuel or Johann Christian when we mean one of his sons.

It is why we say Richard Strauss to distinguish him from Johann Strauss.

But it also why Haydn means Franz Joseph (below), not his less important brother Michael Haydn.

And why the American composer Henry Cowell is listed with his full name and not just Cowell.

Perhaps one day – if we hear enough of the music by the recently rediscovered Black female composer Florence Price often enough and like it enough – she will be known simply as Price. After all, the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu is not usually listed as simply Takemitsu.

Actually, the Ear prefers using full names for all composers — famous or not, male or female, white or black — especially when it is for the general public. But it seems more a matter of politeness, respect and education than of sociopolitical change and social justice.

That is not to say that those of us in classical music don’t see a need to correct the racism and sexism of the past, to foster diversity and inclusiveness. White has a point. Still, the whole idea of using both names in all cases seems more than a bit naïve, superficial and simplistic as a solution to racism and sexism.

It sounds a lot like the kind of theoretical speculation and contrarian thinking you might expect from an assistant professor trying to get noticed and make his mark on big contemporary issues so that he can get tenure and become an associate professor. A high public profile certainly helps that.

But whatever you think of White’s motives or purpose, his essay is causing a “meltdown” on Twitter: https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/‘fullnaming’-mozart-and-beethoven-to-fight-sexism-and-racism-twitter-squabbles-over-slate-article.1108776/

Should you want to know more about Professor White or to leave a message of either support or disagreement, here is a link to his home website: http://www.chriswmwhite.com

What do you think about the idea of using first names for all composers as a way to combat racism and sexism in classical music?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
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The third LunART Festival celebrates Black women in the arts with FREE streaming concerts and events this Saturday night, Oct. 10, and next Saturday night, Oct. 17

October 9, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

The LunART Festival is back for its third season, continuing its mission to support, inspire, promote and celebrate women in the arts, with a special presentation, “Human Family,” available via two FREE video livestreams on LunART’s website and Facebook page on Saturday, Oct. 10, and Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. CDT.

The events will be co-hosted by LunART founder and flutist Iva Ugrcic (below top), and by vocalist and art administrator Deja Mason (below bottom).

In response to the most recent and ongoing racial inequality and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, LunART will present the “Human Family” virtual festival featuring art created by Black women.

These FREE streamed events will feature a palette of emerging and established artists drawn from Madison’s rich arts scene, while also celebrating those who have paved the way for generations to come.

Radical inclusivity has been part of LunART’s mission from its conception. While women have historically been underrepresented in the arts, we cannot deny that there are segments of women that have been doubly marginalized, including women of color, women in the LGBTQIA+ community, older women and women with disabilities.

Part of creating a more just, inclusive world means recognizing that even within the space of underrepresentation, there remain disparities.

Works from the past include Florence Price’s “Five Folksongs of Counterpoint” for string quartet (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom), which is deeply rooted in the African-American spiritual tradition; Margaret Bonds’ Spiritual Suite for solo piano, written in a neo-Romantic classical style infused by jazz harmonies and rhythms; Afro-American Suite for flute, cello and piano by Undine Smith Moore, based on authentic spiritual songs used to express and record everyday life of slaves in America.

Florence Price (below), Margaret Bonds and Undine Smith Moore all fought against both racial and gender discrimination throughout their lives. To be a woman composing classical music in the mid-20th century was unusual; to be a Black woman composer was even more so. And yet, these women forged ahead, making history and paving the way for the women who would follow them.

Along with these pioneers of the past, LunART will also celebrate contemporary Black women who are making a big impact in the world of arts, culture, advocacy and activism, following the footsteps of their predecessors.

“Voodoo Dolls” for string quartet by Jessie Montgomery (below in a photo by Jiyang Chen) is influenced by West African drumming patterns that are interwoven with lyrical motifs in the improvisatory style.

“Fanmi Imen,” a work for flute and piano by Valerie Coleman (below) — LunART’s 2019 Composer-in-Residence) — is based on a powerful poem by Maya Angelou, “Human Family.” Angelou calls for peace and unity, while acknowledging differences due to ethnic and cultural background in her famous refrain: “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

The chamber music will be performed by Madison’s finest musicians: Isabella Lippi, Karl Lavine, Peter Miliczky, Magdalena Sas, Marie Pauls, Satoko Hayami, Yana Avedyan and Iva Ugrcic.

Celebrating women’s creativity across many art forms has been a core component of LunART’s artistic mission from its inception, and this year is no exception. While music will create a sound painting, “Human Family” will also feature women who use words and movement to tell their story.

Enter a world of phenomenal talent with emerging singer-songwriters Danielle Crim and Akornefa Akyea performing their most recent original songs; magically moving poems and spoken-word pieces by Jamie Dawson and Shasparay Lighteard; and join dancer and choreographer Kimi Evelyn in self-exploration of what happens when the body and the soul are left in complete solitude through her powerful piece “Body, Sweet Home.”

To commemorate the Festival events, LunART has commissioned digital artwork (below) by local artist and activist Amira Caire, which is inspired by the “Human Family” concept. This stunning piece of art will be available for purchase in printed form on LunART’s website.

We are calling our community to eat local, drink local and support local. By supporting LunART, you are also supporting local nonprofits and small businesses.

This project would not be possible without the generosity of Madison’s creative media agency Microtone Media, The Piano Gal Shop from Sun Prairie, Dane Arts and a grant from the Madison Arts Commission at https://www.cityofmadison.com/dpced/planning/madison-arts-commission/1580/, with the additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Events are free and available for anyone to watch online, and donations are welcomed. For more details about the artists, events, programs and links, and donation methods, please visit https://www.lunartfestival.org

Posted in Classical music
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Did Beethoven and his Fifth Symphony foster racism, exclusion and elitism in the concert hall? The Ear thinks that is PC nonsense. What do you think?

September 19, 2020
8 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Controversy has struck big among classical music critics and fans — just in time for the Beethoven Year that will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth this December. Plans call for celebrations by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, and others.

At question is what seems yet another fallout and dust-up from the Black Lives Matter movement and the current struggle to foster social justice and racial equality.

In some ways, it all seems inevitable.

Now the history-denying advocates of cancel culture are suggesting that Beethoven (below) and his music – especially the popular Fifth Symphony (you can hear the famous opening in the YouTube schematic video at the bottom) – fostered white privilege and the rise of racism, sexism and homophobia in the concert hall.

That seems like quite an accusation for a single composer and a single piece of music that was premiered in 1808.

The assertion is food for thought. But not much.

In the end The Ear finds it a stretch and a totally bogus argument. He thinks that Beethoven attracted far more performers and audiences than he repelled. Others, including famed critic Norman Lebrecht in his blog Slipped Disc and a critic for the right-wing newspaper The New York Post, agree:

https://slippedisc.com/2020/09/beethovens-5th-is-a-symbol-of-exclusion-and-elitism/

https://nypost.com/2020/09/17/canceling-beethoven-is-the-latest-woke-madness-for-the-classical-music-world/

The Ear also thinks it is political correctness run amok, even for someone who, like himself, advocates strongly for diversity of composers, performers and audiences – but always with quality in mind — in the concert hall.

Just because Beethoven was such a great creative artist is hardly cause to blame him for the inability of other artists to succeed and for non-white audiences taking to classical music. Other forces — social, economic and political — explain that much better.

Yes, Beethoven is a towering and intimidating figure. And yes, his works often dominate programming. But both musicians and audiences return to him again and again because of the originality, power and first-rate quality of his many works.

Beethoven himself was deaf. That would certainly seem to qualify him as inclusive and a member of an important category of diversity.

No matter. The writers are happy to blame Ludwig and his work for exclusion and elitism. They argue that people of color, women and LGBTQ people have all felt alienated from classical music because of Beethoven’s legacy.

Of course, there is elitism in the arts. People may be equal, but creative talent is not.

And clearly, Beethoven was a towering and intimidating figure – more for the quality of his music than for the simple fact that it exists. Such exclusion and elitism have to do with other factors than the composition of the Fifth Symphony.

If The Ear recalls correctly, when he died Beethoven was given the largest state funeral up to that time for a non-royal, non-politician or non-military person.

And how do you explain that Beethoven’s music, so representative of Western culture, appeals deeply to and attracts so many Asians and Asian-Americans, and became both banned and symbolically central to those opposed to Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China?

But these days being provocative can become its own reward.

You can read the analysis and decide about its merits for yourself, then let us know what you think in the Comment section.

Here is a link to the opinion piece in Vox Magazine, a free online journal: https://www.vox.com/switched-on-pop/21437085/beethoven-5th-symphony-elitist-classism-switched-on-pop

What do you think about the idea that Beethoven played a large and seminal role in fostering an elitist and exclusive culture in classical music?

Did you ever feel alienated from classical music because of Beethoven or know others who have?

What is your favorite Beethoven composition?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AsianHistory, #BeethovenYear, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CancelCulture, #ChairmanMao, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertHall, #CreativeArtist, #CulturalRevolution, #DigitalMedia, #DisabilityRights, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FifthSymphony, #FoodforThought, #GenderEquality, #JacobStockinger, #LGBTQrights, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaoTse-Tung, #MaoZeding, #MeadWitter, #MusicCritic, #NormanLebrecht, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #People'sRepublicofChina, #PianoSonata, #PieceofMusic, #PoliticalCorrectness, #ProArteQuartet, #RacialEquality, #RightWing, #SlippedDisc, #SocialJustice, #StateFuneral, #StringQuartet, #SymphonicMusic, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkPost, #TheOther, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #VoxMagazine, #WesternCulture, #WhitePrivilege, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, accusation, advocates, agree, alienate, alienated, amok, analysis, anniversary, appeal, applause, argument, artist, Arts, Asia, asian, Asian American, attract, audience, banned, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, being, big, birth, Black Lives Matter, blame, BLM, blog, bogus, cancel culture, category, cause, celebrations, Chairman Mao, Chamber music, China, choral music, civilian, Classical music, classicalmusic, clothing, comment, commentary, composer, Composition, Concert, concert hall, concerto, conservative, controversry, creative, Cultural Revolution, culture, days, deaf, death, December, decide, digital, disability, diverse, diversity, dominate, dust-up, economic, economics, elite, elitism, elitist, equality, exclusion, Facebook, fallout, famous, fans, favorite, Fifth Symphony, figure, first-rate, food, forces, foster, funeral, gender, gender equality, great, hear, homophobia, idea, inability, inclusive, intimidating, Jacob Stockinger, large, legacy, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGTB, like, line, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mao, Mao Tse-Tung, Mao-Zedong, Mead Witter School of Music, merits, military, mind, movement, Music, music critic, Musician, Newspaper, noise, non-military, non-royal, non-white, nonsense, Norman Lebrecht, online, Op-Ed, opening, opera, opinion, Orchestra, orchestral music, original, originality, other, PC, People, performer, Piano, piece of music, plans, political, political correctness, Politics, popular, post, posting, power, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, programming, provocative, quality, question another, race, racial equality, racism, racist, read, reader, recall, repel, return, reward, right-wing, rise, role, royal, schematic, seminal, Sexism, sexist, share, silence, single, Slipped Disc, social, social justice, Sonata, state funeral, story, stretch, String quartet, strong, subscriber, succeed, symbol, symbolically, symphony, tag, talent, The Ear, The New York Post, the other, think, thought, towering, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Vox Magazine, want, Western culture, white privilege, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, woke, work, year, you, yourself, YouTube

Classical music: How can classical music be made less white? Nine Black artists suggest changes. Which ones will work best?

July 19, 2020
3 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

With all the attention given to and urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement — and other demonstrations and protests against personal and systemic racism as well as white privilege — it comes as no surprise that questions are being raised about the overwhelmingly white world of classical music and how to change it.

Most of the local classical music groups The Ear knows of have posted statements of solidarity.

If he recalls correctly, they include the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO), the Middleton Community Orchestra, the Willy Street Chamber Players and many others.

But beyond declarations of solidarity with people of color, the music groups face deeper issues that require action, not just words, and remain more difficult to solve: How to attract more Black classical musicians? How to foster more Black composers? And how to attract more Black audiences?

Diversity and equity are long-term issues, and quite a number of possible solutions loom.

Would performing more pieces, both historical and contemporary, by Black composers (below) work?

Would hiring more Black resident musicians help?

Would booking more Black guest artists and soloists help? (Below is the young and upcoming British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.)

Would changing the music curriculum in schools help? (Some important Black composers are explored in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Would generating more support to and from the Black community help?

Last week The New York Times did a fine piece of work in addressing these issues.

The reporter and music editor asked nine different accomplished Black conductors, instrumentalists, singers, critics and administrators in classical music about how to solve the inequity. The interviews were condensed and edited into very readable statements.

Here is a link to that story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/arts/music/black-classical-music-opera.html

Please read it.

Then let us know which suggestions you think should be attempted first and which solutions are most likely to work.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #BlackComposer, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackMozart, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChevalierdeSaint-Georges, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ContemporaryComposers, #CulturalDiversity, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FlorencePrice, #GreatBritain, #GuestArtist, #HistoricalFigure, #JacobStockinger, #Kanneh-Mason, #LivingComposers, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicCritic, #MusicEducation, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkTimes, #PeopleofColor, #residentmusicians, #ScottJoplin, #ShekuKanneh-Mason, #SocialChange, #SystemicRacism, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheUK, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WhitePrivilege, #WilliamGrantStill, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WyntonMarsalis, #YoungArtist, #YouTubevideo, action, address, administrator, Arts, attention, attract, audience, black, Black Lives Matter, Black Mozart, blog, Book, Britain, British, brown, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, change, Chevalier de Saint Georges, choral music, Classical music, classical musician, classicalmusic, community, composer, concerto, conductor, contemporary, critic, deeper, demonstration, different, difficult, diversity, edit, editor, ensemble, equity, explore, Facebook, Florence Price, forward, foster, generate, group, guest artist, historical, important, inequity, instrumentalist, interview, issue, Jacob Stockinger, link, living composers, local, long-term, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton Community Orchestra, movement, Mozart, Music, Music education, New York City, New York Times, opera, Orchestra, overwhelming, people of color, performer, personal, philosophy, Piano, piece, post, posting, privilege, protest, question, racism, raise, readable, resident, resident musicians, Scott Joplin, share, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, singer, social change, solidarity, soloist, solve, statement, story, strings, suggestions, support, surprise, symphony, systemic, systemic racism, tag, The Ear, The New York Times, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, upcoming, urgency, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, white, white privilege, William Grant Still, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, world, Wynton Marsalis, young, young artist, YouTube

Classical music: Joel Thompson’s “The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” is an eloquent and timely testament to Black victims of racism. It deserves to be performed in Madison and elsewhere

July 6, 2020
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

A reader recently wrote in and suggested that fellow blog fans should listen to “The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” by the Atlanta-based American composer Joel Thompson (below).

So The Ear did just that.

He was both impressed and moved by the prescient piece of choral and orchestral music. It proved both powerful and beautiful.

The title alludes to the Bible’s depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but also to the musical setting of it that was composed by Franz Joseph Hadyn in the 18th century. But it stands on its own as a much needed and very accomplished updating, especially with the “last word” or phrase “I can’t breathe.”

It is hard to believe the work was written five years ago, and not last week or last month. But it couldn’t be more relevant to today.

It shows how deeply artists have been engaging with the social and political issues of the day, particularly the role of personal and structural racism in national life, and the plight of young Black men and women who face discrimination, brutality and even death at the hands of the police and a bigoted public.

The work was premiered by the Men’s Glee Club at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2015. This performance comes from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

The SSO and featured guest University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Men’s Glee Club, led by conductor Eugene Rogers (below) – who directs choral music and teaches conducting at the UM — premiered a 2017 commissioned fully orchestrated version of “The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.” You can hear it in the YouTube video below.

It is an eminently listenable and accessible, multi-movement work honoring the lives, deaths and personal experiences of seven Black men.

The seven last words used in the work’s text are: “Why do you have your guns out?” – Kenneth Chamberlain, 66; “What are you following me for?” – Trayvon Martin, 16; “Mom, I’m going to college.” – Amadou Diallo, 23; “I don’t have a gun. Stop shooting.” – Michael Brown, 18; “You shot me! You shot me!” – Oscar Grant, 22; “It’s not real.” – John Crawford, 22; “I can’t breathe.” – Eric Garner, 43.

The Ear thinks that once live concerts begin again after the coronavirus pandemic is contained, it should be programmed locally. It could and should be done by, among others, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Choir; or the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra and Choral Union; or the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra with the Festival Choir of Madison; or the Wisconsin Chamber Choir.

They have all posted messages about standing in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the protesters against racism. But will words lead to commitment and action?

It will be interesting to see who responds first. In addition to being timely, such a performance certainly seems like a good way to draw in young people and to attract Black listeners and other minorities to classical music.

Here is a link if you also want to check out the almost 200 very pertinent comments about the work, the performance, the performers and of course the social and political circumstances that gave rise to the work — and continue to do so with the local, regional, national and international mass protests and demonstrations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNXoqNuLRQ&app=desktop

And here is the performance itself:

What do you think of the work?

How did you react to it?

Would you like to see and hear it performed live where you are?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #18thCentury, #African-AmericanComposer, #African-Americanmusician, #AmadouDiallo, #AmericanComposer, #Americanconductor, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackMen, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ChristianReligion, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DeadlyForce, #EricGarner, #EugeneRogers, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GleeClub, #GuestArtist, #HolyBible, #ICan'tBreathe, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #JoelThompson, #JohnCrawford, #KennethChamberlain, #LastWord, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MassProtests, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MichaelBrown, #OrchestralMusic, #OscarGrant, #PersonalExperience, #PoliceBrutality, #PoliticalActivism, #PoliticallyRelevant, #PoliticalNews, #RacialDiscrimination, #SanFranciscoSymphony, #SevenLastWords, #SevenLastWordsofChrist, #SociallyRelevant, #TheBible, #TheCrucifixion, #TheEar, #TheSevenLastWordsoftheUnarmed, #TheUW, #TrayvonMartin, #UniversityOfMichigan, #UniversityofMichigan-AnnArbor, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChoralUnion, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinChamberOrchestraChorus, #WorldPremiere, #YoungPeople, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, accessible, accomplish, action, African American, ago, allude, Amadou Diallo, American, Arts, Atlanta, attract, audience, be, beautiful, Bible, bigot, bigoted, black, Black Lives Matter, black men, blog, brutality, choral music, Choral Union, Christian, Christianity, circumstance, Classical music, college, comments, commission, commitment, compose, composer, Concert, Conducting, conductor, contain, coronavirus, crucifixion, deadly force, death, demonstration, depiction, direct, discrimination, Eric Garner, Eugene Rogers, experience, Facebook, fan, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Georgia, Glee Club, guest, guest artist, guns, gunshot, Hadyn, hear, honor, I can't breathe, impress, impressed, international, issue, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Christ, Joel Thompson, John Crawford, Kenneth Chamberlain, last, last word, lead, life, like, link, listenable, listeners, lives, local, locally, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mass protests, Mead Witter School of Music, men, men's, message, Michael Brown, minorities, minority, month, move, moved, movement, Music, musical, must, national, need, Orchestra, orchestral music, orchestrated, Oscar Grant, pandemic, performer, pertinent, phrase, police, police brutality, political, Politics, post, posting, powerful, premiere, prescient, program, protest, protesters, public, racial discrimination, racism, racist, react, reaction, regional, relevant, Religion, religious, respond, rise, San Francisco Symphony, school, see, setting, seven, Seven Last Words, Seven Last Words of Christ, share, shoot, shooting, shot, singer, Singing, social, socially relevant, solidarity, stand, standing, suggest, symphony, tag, teach, testament, text, The Ear, The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, timely, title, today, Trayvon Martin, unarm, unarmed, United States, University of Michigan, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, updating, use, UW, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, victim, vocal music, week, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Chorus, women, word, words, work, world premiere, wrote, year, young people, YouTube

Classical music: What do you think about Abraham Lincoln and the statue of him on the UW-Madison campus?

June 28, 2020
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The proposal, discussion and controversy have become local, regional, national and international news.

What do you think about Abraham Lincoln?

And what do you think should be done about the statue of him (below, in a photo by Getty Images) on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus? Should it go? Or should it stay? Why?

Classical music: Here is music that asks for and then grants the peace we need now

June 2, 2020
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Is The Ear alone in being reminded of the year 1968 and its various social, political and personal upheavals?

What explains it?

What are the parallels, if any?

Is it the national and international protests against police injustice and racism (below, in a photo by Getty Images)?

Is it the violence and riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and opposition to the Vietnam War?

Is it the isolation and deaths (below, in a photo by ABC News) brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and the more than 100,000 deaths in just the U.S. from COVID-19?

Whatever you think and whether you agree or not, we all can use some peace.

Here is some music that both asks for peace and grants it.

It is the “Dona Nobis Pacem” (Grant Us Peace) from the “Mass in B Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed in the YouTube video below by Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus with soloists.

If there are other pieces of classical music that serve that same purpose and you would like to hear, leave your suggestion in the comment section.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ABCNews, #BaroqueMusic, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BMinorMass, #ChoralMusic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GeorgeFloyd, #GettyImages, #GrantUsPeace, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #MartinLutherKing, #RobertShaw, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #TheEar, #VietnamWar, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, 1968, ABC News, agree, Arts, assassination, Atlanta Symphony, Bach, Baroque music, big, black, Black Lives Matter, blog, choral music, chorus, Classical music, composer, conduct, conductor, coronavirus, death, destructive, Early music, Facebook, forward, George Floyd, Getty Images, Grant Us Peace, injustice, international, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, justice, like, link, Martin Luther King, mass, Mass in B Minor, MLK, Music, national, news, Orchestra, pandemic, parallels, peace, personal, photo, police, political, post, posting, protest, remind, riot, Robert Shaw, share, social, tag, Television, The Ear, think, TV, United States, upheaval, Vietnam War, violent, vocal music, war, YouTube

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