Conversation from Flos Carmeli

For my general readers, this might not be interesting, but it is a continuation of a conversation over here with Steven Riddle. I guess the thread is old, because it will not let me post my comment, so here it is, because it is an interesting conversation. You may need to go back and read the conversation to get the full context. The italicized quote is snipped from Mr. Riddle's last salvo.

My impression of classical music post 1950 is that it has tended to mill about itself in the center of the room throwing its dwindling audience to the periphery.

Most classical music performance organizations face dwindling audiences. What I see as a general trend is to shore up the base: early music specialists delve WAY into historically informed performance, realizing that even if they were to go the way of Stockowski, very few from the general public would be interested, and they would only lose the hard-core early music geeks.

Similarly in modern music, which, far from being a collection of dead-end "isms", which was never as much of a problem in music as in painting, is thriving and actually drawing people to concerts. The problem is that it is the same small group of people. Sometimes someone will wander in because of an ensemble's collaboration with a particular pop musician, and sometimes those people will stay, and eventually get bored with the pop performer.

However, that being said, there are two major, thriving music organizations in the Bay Area that consistantly bring in audiences for all sorts of music, from early music to mid-twentieth century serialism, to whatever is brewing at the moment: The San Francisco Symphony and the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

I have even encountered people who swear that they hate modernist music enjoying some pretty abstract stuff.

I don't think that Stockhausen is over-intellectualized, rather he is dense and requires hyper-educated listeners, which are out there. In fact his most difficult stuff is the stuff that wanders out of his rigorous approach into the realm of hippy-esque goofiness. That stuff, even I find unlistenable.

Then there is the case of John Cage, whose music always interests me far more than the theory behind it (which is terribly silly stuff). Sort of like Ornette Coleman, whose theory is incomprehensible, although his music is powerfully interesting stuff.

As to surrealism, are you familiar with the California Post Surrealists? They were an interesting bunch who were all in favor of the exploration of the subconscious, but wanted to structure it within a context of the rational mind. Definitely check out there painting.

An interesting musical ear test

Here is a nifty online test that lets you tell how good your ear is. If the samples changed, it would be interesting to repeat this test at various hours of the day (and before and after meals, coffee, etc.). I have always thought that my ear was best in the mornings and late at night. Theory lab was always most difficult in the afternoon, especially after lunch on a warm day.

Anyway, on this afternoon, after a big lunch in a warm kitchen, I got 86.1%, which is acceptible, considering that I have not done any sort of critical listening for awhile (although I have a couple of CDs that I should review, so things like this are a good warm up). I am going to wait a couple of days, and then will try this again at an hour that I have always thought my ears worked best at.

If you do this and want to do the experiment that I am doing, wait a couple of days before repeats and note the hour, food, caffeine, alcohol, and medication consumption. Should you wish to post this information anonymously, in the comments box, that would be fine, and I will put everything in a spreadsheet and see if there are any interesting conclusions.

For others who want to track and manipulate the data themselves, here is mine from this test:

86.1% November 15, 12:30pm, following a big lunch (meat and carbs). Had two shots of espresso at 7am, so I am two shots lower than usual at this time of day.

See a shaggy early music geek, live!

Since our plans changed and we did not make it to Mexico last weekend, I did not get to see my barber in Tecate, and I have not been able to either find time for a haircut or to talk Melanie into doing it ("But I have never cut hair before other than Amalia's and do you want a haircut that looks like that?" To which I say, "pish posh! Better to look like a crude conservative than a hippy!")

So, I will be a little shaggy tonight (although it has been much much worse). If you are in the area, once again: 7:15pm at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi on Vallejo between Grant and Columbus in North Beach, San Francisco. I will be the shaggy idiot in the suit jabbering on about polyphony. Come ask questions. If the question and answer session demands it, it may move to Tony and Nick's later on (although I might grab a bite to eat first). Tony and Nick's is a couple of blocks down on Stockton. It is a good hole-in-the-wall that makes a great martini. Ars Nova sounds even better after a martini, or so I am told.

Meanwhile, I have to pack my bag and get my shirt ironed and all that!

Music in the time of Dante

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area on October 29th, I will be giving a presentation on Music in the Time of Dante at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, relating the musical trends of the period to how Dante uses music in the Divine Comedy. It is free and the fun begins at 7:30pm. Come one come all!

Music in the Time of Dante

If any of you are going to be in the Bay Area in late October, I will be speaking on Italian Music at the Time of Dante for the Lectura Dantis at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. For those of you needing a good excuse to get to San Francisco, this probably isn't it, but late October is a beautiful time of year in the city (it is also a good time to eat at local restaurants, particularly Oliveto or Chez Panisse).

The music of that era was interesting, and I hope to do it justice. Come one come all. Come for the Ars Nova, stay for the Vita Nuova!

Performance Practice Inegales?

Someone found this site looking for "performance practice" inegales. I will be discussing baroque performance practice in regards to rhythmic variation (notes inegales, overdotting, etc.) as well as jazz swing rhythm when I get to Building Blocks: Rhythm. I will warn you that this will be fairly basic. I will get to the more in depth discussion of these things when we get to Baroque keyboard works, so stay tuned!