Some people respond to horror and tragedy by turning to music. To others, pain is best dealt with in silence. This spring, as the US and the UK marched off to a war opposed by a large percentage of the public, John Woolrich asked several prominent composers to do what composers so rarely do these days: write a piece in direct response to current events. “What should we sing in the dark times? There are as many musical reactions to public events as there are composers… ranging through music of anger, defiance, loss, remembrance, near silence, transcendence, nostalgia and mourning.”
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Centuries Of Abuse Take Their Toll On St. Basil’s
“It is one of Moscow’s most enduring landmarks. St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square survived Napoleon, the Nazis, and the rise and fall of the Soviet empire. But decades of military parades, and in more recent years, rock concerts, have all taken their toll on the 450-year-old cathedral.” Adding to the problem is the government’s plans to develop the area around St. Basil’s, erecting a hotel and casino nearby. A new study warns that if something isn’t done soon to reinforce the cathedral’s foundation, the entire structure could collapse within the next century.
Record Art Auction Anticipated
“The largest and most valuable collection of Australian indigenous art assembled for auction is expected to bring a record result when it goes under the hammer in Sydney next week.” Among the most anticipated works is a huge collaborative painting entitled Ngurrara Canvas 1, which is expected to sell for as much as AUS$500,000 (US$300,000). “Also up for auction are artefacts including rainforest shields and bi-cornial baskets, a rare Port Essington spear thrower, a Tiwi ceremonial dance wand and shields, boomerangs and pearl shells. Sotheby’s expects an auction result of between $6.5 million and $9.7 million.”
Frank Gehry, Set Designer?
Frank Gehry does not generally work on a small scale. His buildings swoop and sway and generally defy you to ignore their presence. But the legendary architect is taking his vision into the background this month in upstate New York, where he will make his debut as a set designer for the theatre. Gehry’s set for the Janacek opera Osud will be on display, albeit in a decidedly supporting role, at the SummerScape festival at Bard College.
Downloading’s Legal And Profitable Future
Not everyone in the record industry views downloading as the apocolyptic end of an era. Peter Jamieson, executive chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, looks at the success of pay-per-song download services and sees, among other things, the potential for the revival of the “singles” chart. Jamieson also believes that, if current trends continue, downloading (the legal kind) could become more popular than CD-buying within five years.
Anyone Want To Protest This One?
“The noble Rodin sculpture The Burghers of Calais made an ignominious exit yesterday from its home of almost a century, hauled out of the gardens beside the Palace of Westminster by a crane, and shipped off to a conservation workshop. The sculpture is being restored to celebrate the centenary of the National Art Collections Fund, which bought it from Rodin as a gift to the nation in 1911.”
House Votes To Block FCC Deregulation
“The House voted yesterday to block the Federal Communications Commission from imposing rules that would allow the nation’s biggest broadcasting companies to buy more television stations, setting up a potential showdown with the White House… The legislation would prohibit the FCC from spending any money to carry out its decision last month to allow individual companies to own television stations that reach as much as 45 percent of the national audience. The House measure would keep the limit at 35 percent.” The FCC’s vote in favor of deregulation had sparked an unexpected wave of consumer outrage when it was announced this spring.
Should Art Serve A Medical Purpose?
The increasingly popular art-as-medicine movement is a revelation to some, and a deep concern to others. “Healing is… a serious business, driven by moral and ethical imperatives. Enlisting the arts in its service raises concerns about efficacy, appropriateness, false hopes and accountability. Who’s to say, finally, whether the arts figure substantially in healing or whether healing is pertinent to art?”
The Woman Who Danced Away Her Cancer
It may be a bit new-ageish for some, but more and more people are becoming convinced that art has some profound healing powers. One of the leaders of the art-as-medicine movement is California choreographer Anna Halprin. “For more than 30 years, Halprin has been working out the dynamic of art’s multidimensional power to heal mind and body, which many believe in but few have experienced in such a visceral, immediate way.” Halprin claims to have beaten cancer with an intensive program of painting and dance, and while the medical community isn’t about to give a lot of credence to that particular claim, doctors admit that art does appear to have some sort of as-yet-unexplained benefits to human health.
Are Orchestras Really Committed To Their Cities?
Last month, the Philadelphia Orchestra nearly had to call off a series of free “neighborhood concerts” for lack of sponsors. A last-minute sponsor stepped in, and all was well, but Peter Dobrin has a question. Shouldn’t we be able to expect that an orchestra, which spends a good amount of time asking for financial and moral support from the community, be committed enough to its home city to put on a few free concerts every year, regardless of sponsorship? “Maybe it’s too easy to interpret this situation as one of those rich-sticking-it-to-the-poor episodes, but what the orchestra has done with this year’s cancellation interlude, intentionally or not, is to reinforce the old cliche that classical music is something only for the wealthy.”