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Ian Pace
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« on: 15:27:14, 23-01-2008 » |
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I read in Private Eye that the annual BBC Composer Weekend has been axed, so that this year's (devoted to Judith Weir) will be the last. I hadn't heard anywhere else about this (or maybe I just missed it) - can anyone clarify whether this is the case, if there have been public responses, and so on?
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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Ian Pace
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« Reply #2 on: 16:11:17, 23-01-2008 » |
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Ah yes - thanks for that. Whilst the proposed composer days are something, are they likely to be that different from other comparable events that go on anyhow?
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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time_is_now
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« Reply #3 on: 16:37:37, 23-01-2008 » |
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Probably best to keep this discussion here, now Ian's started this thread, and leave the Judith Weir thread to talk about this year's Weekend? (Maybe Richard's thread from last night entitled 'Weir/Finnissy' could be combined with the Weir Weekend thread, too?)
I've now read the article Ron linked to, and see it does carry the same story I was referring to (although it says 'Elliot [sic] Carter's 100th birthday falls on 12 November 2008', which is slightly under a month out!). The author of that article concludes by asking 'If it ain't broke, why fix it?', but while agreeing with Ian that the proposed composer days risk turning into not much of a special event, I think they have at least the potential to be more than that, and I'd argue that the Composer Weekend concept was somewhat 'broke' anyway. When it worked, it worked, as in the Carter and (although I missed a lot of it) the Cage Weekends. But I'd rather have 3 different composers a year for a day each than risk getting nothing but a Macmillan Weekend or a John Adams Weekend, for instance.
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #4 on: 17:09:25, 23-01-2008 » |
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It might be better that more composers will have their music played rather than one long weekend (especially if composer turns out to be not so interesting).
In any case they do say in the article there will be different approach. May be it is time to change the format. It could be to the better.
I posted my opinion about Judith Weir music and I feel guilty. However, the problem is that if the audience applaud politely that could be misleading to the composer.
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #5 on: 21:37:54, 23-01-2008 » |
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'Elliot [sic] Carter's 100th birthday falls on 12 November 2008' 11/12, 12/11, whatever...  |
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time_is_now
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« Reply #6 on: 21:40:16, 23-01-2008 » |
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Ah. Of course.
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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C Dish
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« Reply #7 on: 05:41:34, 24-01-2008 » |
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Gone -- deleted
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« Last Edit: 05:43:08, 24-01-2008 by C Dish »
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inert fig here
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marbleflugel
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« Reply #8 on: 00:02:39, 26-01-2008 » |
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Bloody typical of current stance isn't it-well-paced and presented effort trumpetted,then axed!
The days, as Ron says of afternoon Brit surveys, are surely going to be too intense-the equivalent of say UK Gold putting on back to back episodes of something organic and nuanced like The Good Life.
Or`speed-dating...You'd lose the sense of real-time ebb and flow and diving in and out of the work / encounters which the weekend gives you.
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'...A celebrity is someone who didn't get the attention they needed as an adult'
Arnold Brown
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #9 on: 00:45:02, 26-01-2008 » |
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If, on the other hand, most the works to be played during these 'days' had already been broadcast over a period of a couple of weeks beforehand, then it might make more sense. If all the material is new to most listeners, then surely saturation - perhaps even satiation - is likely to ensue. It always amuses me (in a slightly frustrated way) when people over at TOP rubbish music new to them on the strength of a single hearing: the first audition of a complex new work is quite often confusing, misleading even: if the whole day is full of such material heard for the first time in quick succession, then there's no chance to catch up. With the best will in the world, getting one's head round 12 hours of Carter is a somewhat more daunting prospect than watching back-to-back Buffy Series 2.... (Actually, on second thoughts, still preferable, though... probably....)
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stuart macrae
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« Reply #10 on: 01:37:10, 26-01-2008 » |
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watching back-to-back Buffy Series 2 'Now Spinning' at Big Ron's? ...ah, but couldn't one just watch the delightful Miss Gellar for hours on end...? |
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #11 on: 09:36:36, 26-01-2008 » |
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Big Ron couldn't manage more than a couple of hours a day watching the box, Stuart: spinning yesterday included music by luminaries as diverse as Janáček, Andreas Vollenweider and (for reasons which I'm positive may not exactly surprise you, particularly) Ceolbeg and Ossian.
I am quite serious about the lack of support given to events where new music is played, though: to be fair, the Weir weekend was preceded by a week of AP focussing on her music, but my mind goes back to a situation which pertained during the Proms seasons not that long ago, where the new commissions would receive a radio broadcast ahead of the first official performance, quite often by different forces to those presenting the premiere. It's extremely useful to be able to get to know the geography of a piece from a couple of different viewpoints early on, and as I've tried to suggest before, when hearing a piece for the first (and maybe only) time, there are so many conflicting events demanding attention that it is sadly all too easy to miss the wood for the trees: if there are several new pieces in quick succession, then there's little chance that all of them will receive a fair hearing.
Perhaps the single day will mean that performances may be prepared under less pressure: but there is an increased danger during that just one day, and presumably less than a twelve hour span, the representation of any given composer's music will only offer a particular facet of his (or her) development, and offer listeners less chance to find the work which may become the key to understanding their overall output.
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