Archive for October, 2008
Tonight I heard a concert of Wagner. It was not just any Wagner concert, it was the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra playing Wagner. I suppose if any ensemble knows how to play Wagner, it should be the Bayreuth, right?
Ahh, Wagner. Is there anything bigger? Eight double basses, four flutes (one picc), four oboes, four clarinets (one bass), for bassoons, four harps (ferchristsakes), four trumpets (one bass), four trombones (is that a contrabass?!?), four horns that sound like eight (are they doubling on tenor horns? antique bell-up E-flat horns? euphoniums?!?), and a tuba the size of Siberia. No really, the tuba was huge. No really, I just looked it up on the Cerveny website to see if it was likely a .787″ or a .795″. I knew it would be big, but wow; the catalogue lists the Kaisertuba bore size as “Grand Canyon”. Really.
The first half of the program was the complete first act of Die Walküre, in concert. Appreciating the genius of the leitmotif concept did not increase my enjoyment of the work, or that of the students I took. Beautiful for sure, intense like no other, but not a shocker that it never hit the Top 40 pop charts. Call me simple minded if you must, but leitmotif only brings a feeling constant frustration of “never going anywhere” musically…and Wagner really rubs that in with his long-winded-ness. The frustration of Die Walküre reminded me of the first time I played Johan de Meij’s Symphony Nr. 1 “Lord of the Rings”; although not related to Wagner’s cycle in any narrative or structural way, sections of that work shift gears before a given variation (seems to me) to have been fully explored. When a piece finally arrives at the tutti…well, I want a tutti, dammit. Let’s rock and roll. Let’s sturm und strang until the storm leaves us exhausted and gasping for breath. Thinking of the short-winded climaxes of de Meij reminded me of another anti-climax…what is that Alfred Reed piece I’m thinking of? Is it “Russian Christmas Music”? You spend at least a hundred bars building to a gigantic dominant chord which could only be followed by a major-key, big, tutti statement (rock and roll, here we come!), only to hit a deceptive cadence and change into the wrong key for a slow, minor-key development of a different theme. What a letdown! In any case, leitmotif aside, the orchestra in tonight’s Wagner was outstanding and really brought each beautiful moment (after moment, after moment) to life.
The second half of the program was drawn from Götterdämmerung, finishing with the famous brass-erotica of “Brünnhilde’s Immolation and Finale“. What awesome music! Lighter on the leitmotif (no pun intended), featuring longer lines of glorious brass in big, fat chords and melody doubled an octave below. Rock and roll, here we are! How can teenagers not love this music? “Hooked on Classics” may have been an artistic abomination, but this piece almost makes it seem like a good idea again. Of course, it would have to be Lars Ulrich or Mike Portnoy…godbless him, but Charlie Watts couldn’t keep up with either Wagner or the Bayreuth brass… I’d set that big “Immolation/Finale” brass hit as the ringtone on my cellphone, if I didn’t already know that the rinky-dink phone speaker would just make me cry out in frustration. In fact, there should be a law against playing the end of Götterdämmerung on small stereo systems. In fact, if they can make Wagner-tubas and Kaisertubas just for the Ring cycle, then they ought to be making separate stereo systems for the Ring cycle. I’d buy one, and I’d set it up in the living room in its own cabinet, right next to the Onkyo on which I play everything else. Götterdämmerung forever! Wagner for president!
This is the music that brought me into classical genres as a teenager, and is the music that I believe has the best chance of capturing my students’ attention. Now if I could just cut out the first three hours and forty-five minutes, I might have a recruiting soundtrack!
October 26th, 2008
It is time for me to get back around to the Criteria and create a second draft. Your input would be appreciated!
October 20th, 2008
The musical is over, and I might modestly say that our production of Guys and Dolls was a success. Today was given over to the music library: collect the G&D books and prepare for mailing, pull and distribute reams and reams of sheet music for the winter holiday season. Tomorrow, the HS Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble shift gears: new music for the Childrens’ Concert, Fall Festival, and the big Winter Concert. The musical was fun, but I slip back into symphonic literature–ahhhhhhhhh–like an old, soft pair of jeans.
October 19th, 2008
I attended a dinner reception this week sponsored by the Chinese embassy here in Abu Dhabi in celebration of the 59th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China (i.e. the Chinese equivalent of Fourth of July). Walking in the door of the Intercontinental Hotel ballroom, guests were greeted by a dozen Chinese drummers in traditional peasant costume. Inside the door, after shaking hands of the Chinese Ambassador, his wife, and about a dozen very important people, guests perused an exhibit of photos from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Then, of course, on to the little cocktails and small talk.
Eventually various ambassadors and sheikhs gathered on the dais at the front of the room, photo-op style. (Here’s where it gets interesting:) When it was time for the ceremony to begin, a small wind band from Abu Dhabi’s Chinese-run music school performed the national anthems of the People’s Republic and of the UAE. (I elbowed my way to an advantageous view; it was why I had been invited.) Aside from ancient, outmoded instruments and techniques in the percussion section, the band sounded quite good. Much better, in fact, than I had expected, if I may be perfectly candid. Following the two anthems, the Chinese ambassador gave a speech in Mandarin, Arabic and English–all from memory.
The event got me thinking. First of all, about why I haven’t found more opportunities like this for my own students to participate musically in the community, and why the school hadn’t emphasized it in the years before my arrival (there was, in fact, a very qualified conductor-educator here before me.) Secondly, about why the U.S. didn’t have the upper hand in exporting music education around the world.
I am sure, in my American-ness, that the U.S. has the world’s greatest music education system in the world (honorable mentions to Venezuela, the former USSR, and others, of course). Why don’t we have music academy outposts in the major capitals of the world? Abu Dhabi is particularly receptive to the music-school business model, having tons of money floating around and lots of foreign expatriate workers to spend it back into the local economy. The UAE doesn’t have any local connection to Western “classical” music or a native arts scene which guest workers would want to study in significant numbers (myself being the exception…Arabic tabla here I come!) Lots of middle-class workers have more disposable income here than they would in their home country, and a certain number of them spend it on guitars, and flute lessons. So then, if Abu Dhabi is flush with oil-company families from Texas, why isn’t there an outpost of the Dallas School of Music in town?
It’s the economy, stupid. While the founder and teachers of the Chinese music academy here certainly need to make a living/profit from their work here, it is also true that the school sells instruments…Chinese-made, of course. I don’t know if the school sells instruments to support its educational endeavors or vice versa, but it wouldn’t be the first business in the history of musical instruments to do either. But wait, some of the best musical instruments in the world are made in the US of A…wouldn’t we have the upper hand in selling our products throughout the world? No, actually. Our instruments cost more than cheap Chinese models. The Japanese have us beat on the price vs. quality index for mid-level instrument manufacturing, as well as on marketing around the world (there is a Yamaha outlet in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi selling everything from drums to guitar effects pedals to trombones, but no place to buy Selmer, Conn, Bach, Ludwig, Gretsch, Steinway, Gibson or Fender brands). And finally, most of the people in the UAE who need a top-quality instrument prefer to bring it in their luggage from the States or Europe.
It’s still the economy, stupid. Many private music teachers in the States are barely making a living. Adult students and parents of young students balk at the cost of professional lessons, and young professional musician-teachers balk at the prospect of paying for graduate degrees at conservatory or university with the paltry fees students expect to pay. I wouldn’t have the nerve to ask my peers in North America to move to the UAE to work for the rates the Chinese music school in Abu Dhabi charges its pupils. The Chinese music teachers in Abu Dhabi, however, are most likely sending remittances to their families which would be unheard of as domestic salaries in China. A music academy in Abu Dhabi staffed by Americans would close its doors before the grand opening.
Perhaps, with the “new global economy”, the fall of the dollar in worldwide currency markets, rising affluence in China, or fallout from the current financial meltdown in the States, economic conditions around the world will move toward an equilibrium whereby American art forms can make grassroots contributions to arts education around the globe. Perhaps the “internationalism” and the “respect for diversity” movements, or the IB program, or legal immigrants, will make enough inroads into American education to increase domestic interest in the wider world. For the moment, however, American contributions to worldwide music education will remain limited to exports of textbooks and top 40 radio. And Britney Spears. Ugh.
October 11th, 2008
Hooray!
Third-Stream is now legitimate, at least in the eyes of the alpha-and-omega of music education blogs: MusTech.net. That is to say, Third-Stream has landed its very own spot on the 100 Music Education Bloggers Campaign official list. I even have my very own number: “87″! That’s right, Third-Stream is number 87 on the list. Legitimacy at last, haha! Even my own parents couldn’t guarantee me that.
That means there are only thirteen spaces left on the campaign for 100 music education bloggers by the end of this year. If you have a blog on the topic of music education, or even a music blog that often touches on education or an education blog that often touches on music, then submit your blog and join the campaign. Of course, we would love to have more than 100. The more, the merrier…and the more interesting conversation. Join today!
October 2nd, 2008