This Week in Classical Music: December 7, 2020.Musings.If it were a normal year, we would be writing about Pietro Mascagni, or Jean Sibelius, or Cesar Franck, or, very likely, about Hector Berlioz, all of whom were born this week.Or, if we had felt that we’d done justice to these wonderful composers in our earlier posts, we might have written about the less popular ones, like the Polish-Russian composer Moise Weinberg, or the great American Modernist Elliott Carter.And we would most likely mention one of our favorites, Olivier Messiaen.This is a big week, but times are by no means normal, so we’ll divert and address other issues.First of all, Covid, which decimated the musical scene.Who could have imagined in February of this year, that the pandemic would close all our concert halls and opera theaters not for a couple of months, but for at least a year and probably much longer?The effects of Covid are devastating: musicians lost their jobs, the lucky ones kept their salaries, often reduced, but most did not.Young performers were hit the worst; not yet established, without a following or financial institutional support, they attempted to continue online only to learn that this is a poor substitute.Music lovers were also hurt, but at least they could revert to their CD collections, classical music radio stations or streaming sites.This was supposed to be the Year of Beethoven, whose 250th anniversary the world will celebrate one week from today, but that was not to be: Covid ruined all of the planned festivals and music series.This is very unfortunate: even though Beethoven’s music is being played all the time, much of it is the same, while some of his pieces are performed less often; those could’ve been showcased this year by the best and most imaginative musicians.And, to state the obvious, Beethoven was a giant – there was music before him, then there were his 30 creative years, and then a whole new period was started, forever affected by his genius.
But Covid and Beethoven are not the only dominant events of this year.During the last several months we’ve also underwent a rapid cultural transformation that afforded much weight to race and gender.This has put classical music in a rather precarious state: it would’ve never occurred to us to mention this before, but now we have to acknowledge that Beethoven was white and male.And so were most of the major figures of classical music, from its beginning in the 15th century when Guillaume Dufay and then Josquin du Pre introduced melody into their masses and motets, making music recognizable to the modern ear; then the greats of the high Renaissance: Palestrina, Lasso and Victoria, and on to Monteverdi, the first of the Baroque composers, the era that also gave us Italian and French opera,the Scarlattis, Purcell, J.S. Bach and Handel and on to the Classical and Romantic period all the way to 2020.The end of the 20th and 21st century is different: never before have we had so many talented female composers: Jennifer Higdon’s name comes to mind, but also Shulamit Ran, Sofia Gubaidulina, Augusta Read Thomas or Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.And of course, there are more, but it doesn’t mean that we hear more of their compositions - it’s the accessible salon music by Cécile Chaminade and minor pieces by Amy Beach and Florence Price that make their way to the airwaves and the Web.Classical music has been culturally diminishing for years, so what will happen to it now?Will this process accelerate, or will it be reborn in some other form?Something is bound to happen as the current state of it is just too precarious and unsustainable.
Musings, December 2020
This Week in Classical Music: December 7, 2020. Musings. If it were a normal year, we would be writing about Pietro Mascagni, or Jean Sibelius, or Cesar Franck, or, very likely, about
Hector Berlioz, all of whom were born this week. Or, if we had felt that we’d done justice to these wonderful composers in our earlier posts, we might have written about the less popular ones, like the Polish-Russian composer Moise Weinberg, or the great American Modernist Elliott Carter. And we would most likely mention one of our favorites, Olivier Messiaen. This is a big week, but times are by no means normal, so we’ll divert and address other issues. First of all, Covid, which decimated the musical scene. Who could have imagined in February of this year, that the pandemic would close all our concert halls and opera theaters not for a couple of months, but for at least a year and probably much longer? The effects of Covid are devastating: musicians lost their jobs, the lucky ones kept their salaries, often reduced, but most did not. Young performers were hit the worst; not yet established, without a following or financial institutional support, they attempted to continue online only to learn that this is a poor substitute. Music lovers were also hurt, but at least they could revert to their CD collections, classical music radio stations or streaming sites. This was supposed to be the Year of Beethoven, whose 250th anniversary the world will celebrate one week from today, but that was not to be: Covid ruined all of the planned festivals and music series. This is very unfortunate: even though Beethoven’s music is being played all the time, much of it is the same, while some of his pieces are performed less often; those could’ve been showcased this year by the best and most imaginative musicians. And, to state the obvious, Beethoven was a giant – there was music before him, then there were his 30 creative years, and then a whole new period was started, forever affected by his genius.
But Covid and Beethoven are not the only dominant events of this year. During the last several months we’ve also underwent a rapid cultural transformation that afforded much weight to race and gender. This has put classical music in a rather precarious state: it would’ve never occurred to us to mention this before, but now we have to acknowledge that Beethoven was white and male. And so were most of the major figures of classical music, from its beginning in the 15th century when Guillaume Dufay and then Josquin du Pre introduced melody into their masses and motets, making music recognizable to the modern ear; then the greats of the high Renaissance: Palestrina, Lasso and Victoria, and on to Monteverdi, the first of the Baroque composers, the era that also gave us Italian and French opera, the Scarlattis, Purcell, J.S. Bach and Handel and on to the Classical and Romantic period all the way to 2020. The end of the 20th and 21st century is different: never before have we had so many talented female composers: Jennifer Higdon’s name comes to mind, but also Shulamit Ran, Sofia Gubaidulina, Augusta Read Thomas or Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. And of course, there are more, but it doesn’t mean that we hear more of their compositions - it’s the accessible salon music by Cécile Chaminade and minor pieces by Amy Beach and Florence Price that make their way to the airwaves and the Web. Classical music has been culturally diminishing for years, so what will happen to it now? Will this process accelerate, or will it be reborn in some other form? Something is bound to happen as the current state of it is just too precarious and unsustainable.