Seductive nitwit bubble

How do (post-)modernist ideologies perpetuate themselves in these days of shifting paradigmas, in spite of the deplorable aesthetics of their composing practitioners? And in spite of the indifference of audiences, and the dangers of chasing them away? And in total ignorance of the negative effects on the reputation of both the central performance culture and new music in general, thereby working against the attempts to restore the art form, and its meaning? The answer is clear: by paying budding talents: the BBC has taken steps to protect the ideology from the reality of concert life.

On 28th of July, the well-known music website 'Slipped Disc' published the following information:

The promising Mark Simpson, composer in residence with the BBC Philharmonic, has been signed by Intermusica.
 
He also plays clarinet and conducts.
 
Bio: Born in Liverpool in 1988, Simpson won both BBC Young Musician of the Year and BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year in 2006. He went on to read Music at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, graduating with first class honours, and studied composition with Julian Anderson at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Simpson was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2012-2014.

Intermusica is a music management and the registration will be, presumably, for clarinet and conducting - what could an agent do for composers?

Apart from aesthetics, this chap is certainly a talented young composer. But with quite mixed-up ideas, like this pretentious flop:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8idDI83my8

This is much better, an angstridden, Scriabinesque attempt to write Romantic Music in the Grand Manner, with enough chaos and irregularities put into the score to be acceptable for the contemporary music establishment as ‘new music’:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQgeLRnXRsQ

One can hear that the guy has understood that there is something like music, other than sonic art, because it peeps through the frightened sonic mist at places:

https://vimeo.com/93075714

He also writes opera, and understands the value of contemporary, trendy subjects, so that audiences can understand what is going on and fully identify with the themes – both in the plot and the music, which is so very much harder with Mozart, Wagner and Verdi:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYlfb4KmL5k

The British musical establishment did not waste time to press this young, promising talent to its breast, to prevent it from developing ideas of his own and (God forbid!) leaving half a century of clichés behind.

I find this really sad - can such young man only be the product of convention and add nr 1,000 of all the artless variations to the bulk of ephemeral negation of the art form? The type of success he enjoys, is created by the establishment, not by the real concert practice. Programmers duly follow ideological advise, incapable of independent musical judgement, lemming-like, and damage their own interests and the goodwill of their audiences, who will stay away the next time they see 'Simpson' on the programme.

Climate change

There is not only a problem with the climate change in real terms, but also in cultural terms, which are 'real' in another way. As in the real world sea levels are rising, people will be forced to seek higher territory to avoid being engulfed; in culture, the rising tide of populism and cultural ignorance has a similar effect: people, aware of the dangers, seek the higher territories where the accumulation of experience of the human condition as embodied in visual art, literature, poetry and music, is still intact. In the course of time, this territory will break-down in rather isolated pockets of knowledge and understanding, like isolated libraries in medieval monasteries, and they will be considered, by the masses, as 'conservative'. The rise of populism is experienced by the emancipated masses as progress, because it gives them voice, more influence, and promises the much-longed for elimination of 'elites'. The critique upon culture, and hatred even, where people are confronted with their ignorance, results from being unaware that the riches of culture - most of it created in past ages - can be greatly benefitting to us in our own times, so it is entirely self-destructive to consider the cultural heritage as being 'conservative' and 'undemocratic' and 'patronizing' and as 'hindrances' to the ever forward march of emancipation and liberation. Seeing 'the past' only as a suppressing force, and not seeing that so much has been achieved in spite of all those problematic aspects of past societies of which we are all too aware, is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

What can be done? It boils down to the challenge of protecting the masses against themselves, and informing and instructing them, merely provokes more critique and hatred, like children in a classroom protesting the answers to arithmetic questions for being undemocratic, patronizing, excluding the pupils' different opinions on the matter, and the attitude of the teacher as suppressive. As far as people are open to any rational discussion, showing the obvious advantages of certain knowledge seems to be the only way of protecting culture, and especially demonstrating that preserving precious knowledge about the human condition is not 'conservative' and thus, a hindrance to 'progress', but mere common sense and, in fact, the most progressive enterprise one could imagine, in an age of cultural decline.

Does music need a 'now'?

On the website of the San Francisco Classical Voice an article appeared which revealed that the leftish ideologies of the 'social relevance' of classical, serious art music are still alive in some quarters, where obvious nonsense is presented as serious argument.

Such ideology, which claims that only music with a 'message' directly relating to the outside world of the moment, is 'relevant', is one of the causes of the erosion of classical music's meaning and position within the modern world. It is a result of the same materialism that lie at the heart of all the attacks upon the art form, from all those people ignorant of what the art form is and what it means, but without any inhibition to enter the field of debate and try to push music in their narrow box of understanding.

Quotes:

“Art needs to have social relevance,” Măcelaru insists. “It needs to have a now. Once an artist embraces that, then the connection to the audience is that much more relevant. To that extent I don’t think the art form (of classical music) is dying at all.”  

Having said that, Măcelaru feels that in the last 10 years there’s been a growing disconnect between the message of the composer and the way the audience understands it — “if only because the message itself is lacking. Which is why I’ve encouraged all the composers I collaborate with to find something that speaks to the 21st century, that’s socially relevant or politically charged — even if it’s emotionally upsetting — something that has to do with who we are in the 21st century.

“After all, Beethoven spoke of social relevance in his time. So did Shostakovich and so did Bernstein. And note how different they are from each other. Think of how Figaro was an incredible social statement at the time. This suggests how some composers have been able to stay relevant because they spoke of the people’s needs not just in terms of experiencing the art form, but also in understanding the life around them ... I don’t think it’s our place as composers to give an answer, but it’s our responsibility to ask the questions so that we as a society can have a discussion about it.”

Do we listen to Beethoven because of his social relevance? Or to Shostakovich because of his undercover references to Soviet life? No, these works have still relevance to us because they have transcended the temporal into something universal, which music - as a non-conceptual art form - can do pretty well. It is not the 'message' that gives musical works a chance to survive the passing of time, but its universal human characteristics which can resonate with people in different times and places. Music as an art form is not the place to discuss the realities of social issues, but the place where these issues are transcended into universal, timeless artistic experiences. That does not make the issues less urgent, but universalizes them and makes them accessible far beyond their initial inspirations - we don't listen to the Eroica because of Napoleon but because it is a great work of art symbolizing the heroic life with all its ups and downs.

If music would need a 'now' to be 'relevant', ALL music from before today would be meaningless.

www.sfcv.org/article/christian-macelaru-classical-music-needs-a-now