Joining all of us, “‘Why would they do that?’ Laurie Anderson, the avant-garde composer and musician who was the first artist interviewed on the show when it began back in 1982, said by telephone.” (It’s for more news and talk.) – The New York Times
Category: music
The Politics Of Noise (It’s Everywhere)
Noise is never just about sound; it is inseparable from issues of power and powerlessness. It is a violation we can’t control and to which, because of our anatomy, we cannot close ourselves off. “We have all thought of killing our neighbors at some point,” a soft-spoken scientist researching noise abatement told me. As environmental hazards go, noise gets low billing. – The Atlantic
LA’s Studio Musicians Say Move To Streaming Makes Will Kill The Business
As television’s center of gravity begins to pivot decisively to made-for-streaming product, the lack of residuals for such programming becomes more and more urgent for musicians. “This is an extinction-level event,” says Marc Sazer, long active in AFM Local 47 and the RMA, which is a related organization. “Our ability to make a sustainable living is facing extinction.” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Play That Made Me Understand Why ‘Porgy And Bess’ Can Be Stifling
Soraya Nadia McDonald: “Does it still make sense to present an opera written by [four whites] as the opera about black American life? Is it a collection of insulting stereotypes set against gorgeous orchestrations, or something more? Attending a performance of Porgy and Bess helped clarify some of those questions for me. But it was another show altogether that helped me reframe how to think about them: Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor.” – The Undefeated
The Piece So Hard Even Barbara Hannigan Couldn’t Sing It
“On paper, John Zorn’s Jumalattaret … looks impossible: breathless vocalise; abrupt transitions from head-spinning complexity to folk-song simplicity; and, within the span of a single measure, whispering, squeaking and throat-singing like a winter storm. It’s the kind of piece that leaves you asking, repeatedly, over the course of its 25 minutes: Can a voice even do this? The answer, for Ms. Hannigan, is yes. It took a lot of practice, a thwarted summer vacation, and a well-timed email to get there.” – The New York Times
‘I Wanted To Form An Orchestra Of People Like Me’: An Ensemble For Musicians With Mental Illness
“The [Me2/Orchestra’s] beginnings were humble — seven people showed up to the first rehearsal in Burlington, Vt., in 2011. Yet it has grown — almost entirely by word of mouth, [Ronald] Braunstein said proudly — to an extent that the Boston-based orchestra numbers some 60 people. In addition to the Boston and Burlington orchestras, affiliated ensembles also exist in Manchester, N.H., and Portland, Ore. ‘That’s what a need there is for people who live with mental illness and play instruments,’ Braunstein said.” – The Boston Globe
Surprise: For The First Time Since 1986, Vinyl Is About To Outsell CDs
Vinyl records earned $224.1 million (on 8.6 million units) in the first half of 2019, closing in on the $247.9 million (on 18.6 million units) generated by CD sales. Vinyl revenue grew by 12.8% in the second half of 2018 and 12.9% in the first six months of 2019, while the revenue from CDs barely budged. If these trends hold, records will soon be generating more money than compact discs. – Rolling Stone
The Banjo And The Ballot Box: Country Music As Political Tool
“[Historian Peter] La Chapelle explains how fiddler-politicians and politician-fans have used this oddly flexible genre to advocate for the poor and dispossessed, fight for racial justice, fight against racial justice, lobby for gun rights, and articulate a whole range of sometimes contradictory positions. (audio) – The American Scholar
The Met Opera’s New “Porgy”: Restoring An American Masterpiece
Joseph Horowitz: “The modernist view of Gershwin the gifted dilettante is no longer heard. Concomitantly, American music historians, for whom Gershwin once barely existed, have flocked to Porgy and Rhapsody in Blue. A burgeoning interest in the interwar fate of black classical music will surely promote new understandings of Gershwin as a necessary interloper between “classical” and “popular” genres severed by 20th-century aesthetic currents.” – American Scholar
The Problem With Museums That Try To Tell The Story Of Classical Music
Classical music institutions have a built-in challenge in trying to arrange exhibits for the public: Their default archival documents tend to be just the kind of dusty memento the stereotype is describing. – Washington Post