REPORTS OF MY DEATH…

Eight years ago tales of doom and gloom about American orchestras were rampant. “Despite the troubling statistics – in 1992 three-quarters of American orchestras were posting debts – the business of making music has improved markedly over the past eight years. Today, three-quarters of American orchestras are balancing their books each season, accumulated debt has decreased, and some prominent and once-troubled groups have enjoyed unprecedented philanthropic favor and are on the road to stability.” – Washington Post

CLASSICAL DEFINITION

“What is the relationship of America’s classical music to its popular music? Should singers be allowed to go back and forth between the opera house and popular radio? Are Broadway musicals the real American opera? Should symphonic composers use jazz and popular music in their works? There was a very good reason – cultural self-definition – to have these discussions, but at some point it should have become obvious that these were mostly hollow questions about the status of different types of music, rather than real issues of substance.” – Washington Post

THE BACH YEAR

After a year of Bach celebrations the world over, what did it all add up to? “Paradoxically, all the fuss and manic eagerness to outdo the competition seems only to obstruct an understanding of Bach’s music. The more we are led to believe that we can catch hold of Bach in his entirety, the more he slips from our grasp.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

USED PROTEST

Authors and publishers are protesting that Amazon has begun selling used books. “Authors earn royalties from new book sales but get nothing when used copies of the same books are resold. Used book sales are also not counted in creating the bestsellers lists or the publishers’ sales records. The crux of the complaint is that Amazon is making used books available within weeks of a new release.” – Wired

PRESERVING DANCE

It’s quite possible with the dissolution of the Martha Graham Company, that her works will fall into oblivion. “Whatever its quirks, though, the Graham case is part of a widespread phenomenon: the disappearance, real or potential, of choreography. Even in this era of satellite imaging and fingertip access to unfathomable resources, much of the world’s dance catalogue has been erased.” – Washington Post

THE NEW NEW GROVE

After 20 years of work and expanding to 29 volumes, the New Grove Dictionary of Music – the world’s standard music reference work – hits this shelves next week. Editor Stanley Sadie expounds on how it was put together. – The Independent (UK)

DEFINITIVE UPDATE: With 25 million words, with more than 29,000 articles from 6,000 contributors in 98 countries, the New Grove is changing fast. – Sunday Times (UK)

THE DOME RECONSIDERED

The press beat up on London’s hapless Millennium Dome in 2000. But “if the Dome was vacuous or meaningless – as has been claimed by newspaper editors who spent this year filling their pages with articles about Nasty Nick and The Weakest Link – well, so are most of the 6.5 million people who attended and had a rare old time. Will posterity acknowledge their existence?” – The Telegraph (UK)