August 27, 2018.In the afterglow of Bernstein’s centenary.Bernstein was unique – a composer, conductor, pianist, educator, a communicator par excellence.No musician before him has occupied such a position on this country’s cultural scene, and we can safely assume that nobody ever will again.And here is one lessons we learn as we celebrate his life.While we don’t want to over-generalize, one thing becomes clear when you look at Bernstein’s life: the importance of classical music within our culture has diminished.Bernstein was the most important classical music figure when classical music itself was important.Today, we also have stars, but they are dimmer and not as significant.We even have the hard numbers that concur with this assessment.There was a time in the history of this country when owing a piano was a must.It was one of the major purchases Americans made, right after the house and practically on par with the purchase of a car.In 1956, 210,00 pianos of different kinds – verticals, grands, even some pneumatic instruments – were sold in this country.In 2007, the last year for which we have statistics – 62,500 pianos were sold.In 1956 the population of the US was just over half of that in 2007.In other words, seven times more pianos were sold per person in 1956 than in 2007.We can assume that things have only gotten worse in the last 10 years.We don’t want to over-dramatize the situation: while people clearly are not making music the way they were doing it in the middle of the past century, they still listen to the classical music.They do it differently, thanks to the development of the Internet: they download it, or, what is more common, listen to streaming music.And they don’t just listen, they express themselves – one could find millions of opinions on YouTube, for example.This is wonderful, but this doesn’t change the basic notion of the diminishment.As we mentioned in our previous post, in 1960 Bernstein could talk to kids about Gustav Mahler and play his music.Today Mahler is established as one of the most important composers of all time (in large measure thanks to Bernstein), but you rarely hear him on major radio stations.Classical music is in troubled waters; Leonard Bernstein’s inspirational example is helpful, but it will be up to us and future generations of musicians and listeners to make things right and prevent it from becoming a relic like kabuki.
Johann Pachelbel was born on September 1st of 1653 in Nuremberg.We’ve written about him several time (for example, here).Even though he’s famous for his Cannon in D, his major work is Hexachordum Apollinis ("Six Strings of Apollo"), a collection of six arias, each consisting of a theme followed by several (usually six) variations.Here’s Aria Tertia, performed by the organist John Butt.
Karl Böhm, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, whose career was marred by his Nazi sympathies, was born on August 28th of 1894 in Graz, Austria.He clearly deserves a full entry, but for the time being, here’s Mozart’s Symphony no. 36, the so-called “Linz Symphony.”Böhm was a great interpreter of Mozart, and here he excels leading the Berlin Philharmonic.
Bernstein 100, other - 2018
August 27, 2018. In the afterglow of Bernstein’s centenary. Bernstein was unique – a composer, conductor, pianist, educator, a communicator par excellence. No musician before him has occupied such a position on this country’s cultural scene, and we can safely assume that
nobody ever will again. And here is one lessons we learn as we celebrate his life. While we don’t want to over-generalize, one thing becomes clear when you look at Bernstein’s life: the importance of classical music within our culture has diminished. Bernstein was the most important classical music figure when classical music itself was important. Today, we also have stars, but they are dimmer and not as significant. We even have the hard numbers that concur with this assessment. There was a time in the history of this country when owing a piano was a must. It was one of the major purchases Americans made, right after the house and practically on par with the purchase of a car. In 1956, 210,00 pianos of different kinds – verticals, grands, even some pneumatic instruments – were sold in this country. In 2007, the last year for which we have statistics – 62,500 pianos were sold. In 1956 the population of the US was just over half of that in 2007. In other words, seven times more pianos were sold per person in 1956 than in 2007. We can assume that things have only gotten worse in the last 10 years. We don’t want to over-dramatize the situation: while people clearly are not making music the way they were doing it in the middle of the past century, they still listen to the classical music. They do it differently, thanks to the development of the Internet: they download it, or, what is more common, listen to streaming music. And they don’t just listen, they express themselves – one could find millions of opinions on YouTube, for example. This is wonderful, but this doesn’t change the basic notion of the diminishment. As we mentioned in our previous post, in 1960 Bernstein could talk to kids about Gustav Mahler and play his music. Today Mahler is established as one of the most important composers of all time (in large measure thanks to Bernstein), but you rarely hear him on major radio stations. Classical music is in troubled waters; Leonard Bernstein’s inspirational example is helpful, but it will be up to us and future generations of musicians and listeners to make things right and prevent it from becoming a relic like kabuki.
Johann Pachelbel was born on September 1st of 1653 in Nuremberg. We’ve written about him several time (for example, here). Even though he’s famous for his Cannon in D, his major work is Hexachordum Apollinis ("Six Strings of Apollo"), a collection of six arias, each consisting of a theme followed by several (usually six) variations. Here’s Aria Tertia, performed by the organist John Butt.
Karl Böhm, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, whose career was marred by his Nazi sympathies, was born on August 28th of 1894 in Graz, Austria. He clearly deserves a full entry, but for the time being, here’s Mozart’s Symphony no. 36, the so-called “Linz Symphony.” Böhm was a great interpreter of Mozart, and here he excels leading the Berlin Philharmonic.