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This ‘body percussion” version of Beethoven will make your day!

February 15, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger

Here is something that easily outdoes Bavarian thigh-slapping in Lederhosen!

It features 157 school children playing the opening theme of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony using “body percussion.”

That is, they use their hands, feet, knees and chests with various pressures and degrees of loudness, rhythm, speed and dynamics.

It is a performance practice and method of music education that has roots in folk music.

It was performed in 2020 — hence the covid masks — and was recently posted on Instagram by ClassicFM.

Here is a fuller definition from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_percussion

The kids are amazing. They are so synchronized and precise.

It took five months of practicing and rehearsing, so the persistent music teacher who organized and executed this must be amazing too.

It all seems very French in its combination of the physical and the emotional.

Take a look and listen. Here is a link to the one-minute video:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Freel%2FCofX3zGIPMS%2F%3Figshid%3DMDJmNzVkMjY%3D&data=05%7C01%7C%7C8fe1099d6019482968a708db0c80ef51%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638117520131162642%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ZUhwrmWr8qFFd4eATPOcp6A5bc%2Bp1oVLcOr6Vq%2BkCb8%3D&reserved=0

Does anybody else wonder if an American parent might have protested or even filed a lawsuit alleging inappropriate touching by classmates?

What do you think of this “body percussion” Beethoven?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
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NPR names relevant classical albums in a musical Diary of the Plague Year of the pandemic, racial protests, wildfires and hurricanes

December 29, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

For an unusual and difficult year, NPR (National Public Radio) and critic Tom Huizenga have found a new and unusual way to recommend this past year’s top classical music recordings.

On the “Deceptive Cadence” blog for NPR, Huizenga kept a personal month-by-month diary of “music and mayhem.”

For last February, for example, this ancient image of The Dance of Death inspired contemporary composer Thomas Adès to compose his own “Totentanz” or Dance of Death. (You can hear an excerpt from the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Some of the thematically-related music is modern or contemporary, some of it is from the Baroque or Classical era.

In June, as protests against the death of George Floyd (below top) flared up and spread worldwide, NPR names a recording of the “Negro Folk Symphony” by African-American composers William Dawson and Ulysses Kay (below bottom), thereby helping to rediscover Black composers whose works have been overlooked and neglected in the concert hall and the recording studio.

Devastating wildfires on the West Coast, Presidential impeachment and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast also found their way into the choices of music to listen to.

It is an unusual approach, but The Ear thinks it works.

See and hear for yourself by going to the sonic diary and listening to the samples provided.

Here is a link to the NPR album diary: https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2020/12/21/947149286/music-and-mayhem-a-diary-of-classical-albums-for-a-troubled-2020

But many roads, if not all, lead to Rome, as they say.

What is also interesting is that a number of the NPR choices overlap with ones listed by music critics of The New York Times as the 25 best classical albums of 2020.

Some choices also are found on the list of the nominations for the Grammy Awards that will be given out at the end of January.

In other words, the NPR diary can also serve as yet another holiday gift guide if you have gift cards or money to buy some new and notable CDs, and are looking for recommendations.

Here is a link to the Times’ choices, which you can also find with commentary and a local angle, in yesterday’s blog post: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/the-new-york-times-names-the-top-25-classical-recordings-of-2020-and-includes-sample-tracks/

And here is a list to the Grammy nominations: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/11/28/for-holiday-shopping-and-gift-giving-here-are-the-classical-music-nominations-for-the-63rd-grammy-awards-in-2021/

What do you think of the NPR musical diary of the plague year?

Do you find it informative? Accurate? Interesting? Useful?

Would you have different choices of music to express the traumatic events of the past year?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AbrahamLincoln, #African-AmericanComposer, #AlvinCole, #AmericanClassics, #AnnaClyne, #BaroqueMusic, #BerlinerBarockSolisten, #BerlinGermany, #BertrandChamayou, #Blackcomposers, #BlackMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #BryceDessner, #C.E.P.Bach, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #CarnegieHall, #CelloConcerto, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianReligion, #ClariceJensen, #Classicalera, #ConcertHall, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DanceofDeath, #DavidLang, #DeceptiveCadence, #DonaldNally, #DonaldTrump, #DriftMutiply, #ElectronicMusic, #EnslavedPeople, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FemaleComposer, #FerruccioBusoni, #FredericChopin, #FrenchMusician, #GeorgeFloyd, #GoodNight, #GrammyAward, #GrammyNominations, #GulfCoast, #HolidayGiftGuide, #HumanVoice, #iIanoConcerto, #InbalSegev, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #JonasKaufmann, #JustConstellations, #KirillGerstein, #LeopoldStokowski, #LeosJanacek, #LithuanianNationalSymphony, #LiveMusic, #LondonEngland, #LondonPhilharmonic, #MarinAlsop, #MassProtests, #MichaelHarrison, #MusicCritic, #MusicCritics, #NationalPublicRadio, #NaxosRecords, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #NewYorkTimes, #OlegBezborodko, #OperaMusiclibretto, #OrchestralMusic, #PaulMoravec, #PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, #PianoConcertino, #PoliceShooting, #PoliticallyRelevant, #PresidentTrump, #ProtectYourselfFromInfection, #RacialJustice, #RecordedMusic, #RecordingStudio, #RoomfulofTeeth, #SanctuaryRoad, #SarahKirklandSnider, #SocialJustice, #SociallyRelevant, #SocialMedia, #SystemicRacism, #TenorSinger, #TheCrossing, #TheEar, #TheodoreRoosevelt, #ThomasAdès, #TomHuizenga, #TristanPerich, #UkrainianComposer, #UndergroundRailroad, #UnitedKingdom, #UnitedStates, #ValentinSilvestrov, #VikingurOlafsson, #VocalMusic, #WestCoast, #WilliamDawson, #WilliamGrantStill, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2021, Abraham Lincoln, Adès, African American, Album, Alsop, Alvin Cole, American, American Classics, ancient, angle, anicent, Anna Clyne, April, Arts, audience, August, award, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, beauty, behvaior, Berlin, Berliner Barock Solisten, Bertrand Chamayou, best, black, black music, blog, bond, British, British composer, Bryce Dessner, Busoni, C.P.E. 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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
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AmericanComposer, #AsianComposer, #AsianComposers, #Blackcomposers, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CancelCulture, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #ChrisWhite, #ConcertProgram, #CoronavirusPandemic, #DeadWhiteMales, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstName, #FlorencePrice, #FranzJosephHaydn, #HenryCowell, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JapaneseComposer, #JohannChristianBach, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LastName, #LatinoComposers, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MassProtests, #MichaelHaydn, #MusicProfessor, #NewYorkCity, #NorthCarolina, #RichardStrauss, #SchoolofMusic, #SocialJustice, #SocialMedia, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUS, #TheUSA, #ToruTakemitsu, #UniversityofMassachusetts-Amherst, #WilhelmFriedemannBach, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WomenComposers, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, #YouTubevideo, absence, African American, all, America, American, Amherst, arbitrary, argument, Arts, asian, audience, Bach, Beethoven, bias, black, Black Lives Matter, BLM, blog, brother, cancel culture, Canon, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Chris White, clarity, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, composers, Concert, concert program, confusion, contrarian, controversial, controversy, coronavirus, Cowell, criticism, culture, CUNY, dead, dead white males, disagreement, distinguish, dustup, Education, equality, essay, Facebook, faculty, fame, familiarity, fight, first name, Florence Price, footing, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, frst, fullnaming, function, Haydn, hear, Henry Cowell, home website, importance, inclusion, inclusiveness, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Christian Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, last, last name, Latino, Latinx, leave, like, link, logic, Ludwig van Beethoven, male, males, Massachusetts, meltdown, message, Michael Haydn, mononym, motives, movement, Mozart, Music, music faculty, naive, New York City, North Carolina, obvious, obvious'equal, pandemic, People, Point, polite, politeness, post, posting, prefer, Prejudice, price, professor, profile, program, promote, protest, purpose, quality, Queens, Queens College, race, racism, read, recent, rediscover, reflect, reinforce, respect, Richard Strauss, School of Music, sex, Sexism, share, silly, simole, simplistic, simply, Slate, Slate.com, social justice, social media, sociopolitical, solution, speculation, Strauss, superficial, support, tag, Takemitsu, Teacher, tenure, The Ear, theoretical, theory, time, Toru Takemitsu, Twitter, U.S., United States, university, University of Massachusetts, US, USA, use, Website, white, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, women composers, Yale

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: Is this summer’s Token Creek Festival on or off? And if it is on, what form will it take? We will know the delayed decision by July 15

June 15, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

For 30 years, the Token Creek Festival (below), which takes place in a refurbished barn, has been a welcome and distinguished bridge from the summer concert season to the autumn season.

It usually takes place from late August through early September.

And by this time we usually know the theme, the performers and the ever-inventive programs that co-directors John and Rose Mary Harbison (below), along with managing director Sarah Schaffer, have put together. (Editor’s note: You can hear festival participants rehearsing the beautiful opening of the slow movement to the Piano Quartet by Robert Schumann in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

But not this year.

Thanks to challenges and complications from the coronavirus and the public health crisis posed by COVID-19, a stop-or-go decision has been postponed until July 15.

Will there be one or more live events? Will the festival be virtual and online? Will guest artists and even the Harbisons risk traveling by plane? Will the mainly older public attend? There are many variables to take into account.

Here is an official announcement from the festival:

Dear Friends,

The middle of June is when we usually announce our concerts for the season, scheduled every year to begin in late August and run through Labor Day.

As we continue to endure the many shifts of the crises of health, politics and civil rights, we find ourselves struggling to understand all the contradictions.

In spite of it all, we have some hopes for a concert emblematic of the festival — perhaps a single event taking advantage of the small venue (below top and bottom), with the audience socially distanced or virtually engaged, or perhaps new dates later in the season — having a chance to recall what we have enjoyed together.

So we are delaying our announcement of what the Token Creek Festival might present, with a final decision by July 15. (Editor’s note: You can check at: http://tokencreekfestival.org.)

It is hard to give up something that has been evolving for 30 years and counting. It is a luxury and a lifeline for both the performers and the listeners, something that holds us fast in spite of the present challenges.

We are not yet advertising or taking ticket orders or building new facilities. But we, and the artists who are holding dates for us, are doing something else: We are practicing, imagining, thinking in real terms about presenting concerts again.

If for no other than those reasons, we beg the indulgence of our friends as we become perhaps the last to depart the season, or among the few to be able to propose some radical, slim, socially distanced, barn-size festival.

We hope you will stay tuned, as we are staying tuned.

And we’ll let you know what’s possible by mid-July.

With warm wishes,

John and Rose Mary and Sarah, TCF Directors

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Classical music: During global protests against racism, a longtime fan of the Madison Symphony Orchestra writes a letter to ask for more diversity and African-American composers

June 9, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

During the ongoing global protests and demonstrations against police brutality, racism and white privilege, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) will hold its annual meeting next Tuesday, June 16, at 3:30 p.m.

The meeting is NOT open to the public — as erroneously stated in an earlier version — but just to season subscribers (not single ticket buyers) and members of MSO boards. The meeting will be virtual and held online via Zoom.

During the meeting, a statement about diversity and inclusion will be read, according to the MSO.

If you have questions, you can call Alexis Carreon at (608) 257-3734.

With both the symphony and current events in mind, a longtime MSO subscriber has written the following letter to Manager of Individual Giving Jeff Breisach.

Please read the letter and then let us know what you think.

Do you agree or disagree?

What else would you like to say about the role of MSO in adapting to concerns about racism, injustice and privilege?

Do you have any suggestions?

“Dear J. Breisach:

“Please share my following concerns with those planning the annual meeting of the Madison Symphony Orchestra:

“In light of the recent historic events, I hope MSO will add an item or two to deal with the economic and racial injustice prevalent in Madison, as well as elsewhere in our nation.

“Specifically:

Empty seats should be made available as Rush Seats ($1 or $5) the day of the concert to open our halls to those facing economic disparity. Such disparity rests on a long history of racism and poverty injustice in our town and in our land. Our hall should always be full and should have a more multi-ethnic, multi-age audience than is currently the case. As our audiences stand, we are one of the most racially and economically privileged events in Madison. That must stop.
We need more racially diverse composers included in our regular programming–at the very least during the month of February, but even better throughout the year. And I’m not just thinking of “Porgy and Bess” tunes. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (below top) also comes to mind as a composer we need to hear more often. Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges — Joseph de Boulogne (1745-1799, below bottom) — is another. (Editor’s note: You can hear the Romance for violin and orchestra by Coleridge-Taylor in the YouTube video at the bottom.) There are more. Having a local black chorus in for Christmas is not enough!

“It is time for MSO to acknowledge its history of white privilege and take some steps to more widely acknowledge the richness of a diverse local audience and classical music history.

Sincerely,

Carol Troyer-Shank

“PS: I have been a MSO ticket holder in the economically denigrated balcony for more than 20 years.

“PS2: The architect and designers clearly thought about making more money — not about safety of attendees — when they designed a balcony to squeeze in more people instead of to allow ease of movement for lower-cost ticket holders. Shame on them! So, of course, all those seats should be filled every time. Even at $5 a ticket, the MSO would gain enormous improvement in their local image.”

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

June 2, 2020
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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.

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Classical music: This Friday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra closes its season with a dark and unorthodox symphony by Shostakovich as well as lighter suites by Bizet and Debussy

May 6, 2019
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IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below top) ends its winter Masterworks season this coming Friday night, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.

And it is going out in a big, eclectic way.

The WCO will perform under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below).

Sewell and the WCO will be joined by two guest singers: soprano Mary Mackenzie, a former Madison resident and member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); (below top); and the Grammy-nominated bass Timothy Jones (below bottom).

Both critically acclaimed singers are familiar to Madison audiences from past appearances with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Madison Opera, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and previous appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

They will all join in the major work that opens the concert, the Symphony No. 14, Op. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich (below), his penultimate symphony that runs about 50 minutes and is highly unorthodox in its form.

Shostakovich wrote his symphony in 1969, and dedicated it to the British composer Benjamin Britten.

Perhaps to avoid more confrontations with the government of the USSR and perhaps to critique global events such as war, the composer gave it a very international flavor.

Written for strings and percussion with vocal soloists, the symphony is composed in 11 movements. It is also set to poetry by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (below top), the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (below middle) and the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (below bottom). In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a live recording of the first movement from the work’s world premiere in Moscow in 1969.

In the late work, Shostakovich (below, in 1950) – always suspect by the Soviet state and in danger during the Stalinist Terror — seeks to portray the idea of unjust and premature death that aroused deep feelings of protest in him. Shostakovich emphasized, however, that it was not out of pessimism that he turned to the problem of mortality but in the name of life on this earth.

The concert concludes on a lighter, more upbeat note by celebrating the innocence and joy of youth in two charming suites: “Jeux d’enfants” (Children’s Games), Op. 22, by Georges Bizet and the “Petite Suite” (Little Suite) by Claude Debussy.

Tickets are $12-$80. To buy tickets and to see more information about the program and detailed biographies of the performers, go to:

https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-v-4/

Posted in Classical music
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