CLASSICAL
MUSIC IN AN AGE OF POP
Greg
Sandow
Spring
2010
my website (soon to be updated)
blog on the future of classical music
in-progress online draft of my book, on the future of
classical music
Class
Schedule and Assignments
This schedule might change, depending on how long some of our
discussions take. The assignments might change, too. I’ll email all updates.
Introduction
to this course
January 20
The crisis in classical music
reading:
Greg Sandow, Where We Stand: The
Classical Music World Today (originally
written for my blog, revised for this class)
Mark Swed, “Alive and Well,” (Los Angeles Times, December 20, 2009)
“One
and Two and…” (Life
magazine, June 29, 1962. Life,
in those days, was America’s most popular magazine. Here it celebrates the
piano, complete with a feature on small town piano teachers, and a newly
commissioned piece from Aaron Copland. An example of how popular classical
music used to be.)
[Follow
the link, which takes you the 6/29/62 issue of Life, as archived on Google Books. The story on
the piano starts on page 38. To go there, enter “38” in the box at the
top of the page, to the right of the word “contents,” and then type “ENTER.”]
January 27
What
is classical music? Why should it survive?
reading:
some definitions of classical music, and comments about it, from various sources
Kyle MacMillan, “Violinist Zukerman
decries sad state of classical music,” (Denver
Post, November 15, 2007)
written assignment, due February 3:
Please
answer the following questions. Feel free to write in a normal, everyday style.
Don’t write more than two or three pages, and by all means write less, if you can
answer the questions more briefly:
·
What does classical
music mean to you personally? Why do you love it? Or (in case you have a more
nuanced view) why do you hate it, or feel ambivalent toward it?
·
What does classical
music tell you about the world you live in?
·
How does it relate to
your life outside classical music?
·
What are you
communicating to other people in your performances?
Please
email this—and all other written assignments—to me at greg@gregsandow.com.
If you’re going to be late with an assignment—not recommended—absolutely let me
know in advance.
Of
course this ties into the subject of our next class. I’ll use your comments to
start the discussion.
Marcus Westbury, “Mozart cover bands rake
in the moolah” (Sydney [Australia] Morning
Herald, October 18, 2007)
Peter
Linett, “The
Two Cultures in Classical Music” (from Asking
Audiences, a blog on the website of Linett’s
audience research company, SloverLinett Strategies)
Greg Sandow, “Whose Radio Station Is It?” (Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2002)
written assignment, due by email February 17:
Answer the following questions. This doesn’t have to be long. Just write a few paragraphs:
listening:
Wilhelm Backhaus, a great pianist from the last century, improvises a prelude to a piece:
Schumann, “Das Abend” (This was recorded at Backhaus’s last recital, which he played in 1969 in Carinthia, Austria. First there’s an announcement from the stage, saying in German that Backhaus isn’t well, and won’t play the scheduled work, Beethoven’s Op. 111 sonata. Instead, he’ll play a short Schumann piece, which we then hear, starting with an improvised prologue.)
YouTube video:
Gino Bechi sings the “Toreador Song” from Carmen, in Italian (from a 1948 Italian film Follie per l’opera, or “Mad About Opera”)
March 3, March 10: spring break
reading:
listening/video:
Some performances from the past, all showing a kind of freedom, ease, or sheer star quality that musicians once seemed to have, and which (for better or worse) we’re not likely to encounter today.
Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, second movement (Joseph Szigeti, violin, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, recorded in 1933)
Schubert, “Serenade” sung in English by Richard Crooks (1941)
Gregor Piatigorsky ends a recital with an arrangement of “The Swan,” from Carnival of the Animals (from Carnegie Hall, a 1947 Hollywood movie)
Artur
Rubinstein plays DeFalla’s “Ritual Fire Dance” (also
from Carnegie Hall)
Jussi Björling and Renata Tebaldi sing their arias from the first act of La bohème, in a fully-staged performance introduced by British actor Charles Laughton (from Festival of Music, a classical music TV special – or “TV spectacular,” as they called these back ten -- shown on NBC on January 30, 1956)
Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music, excerpt (about an Aretha Franklin recording session)
listen to Aretha Franklin, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”
Greil
Marcus, excerpt
from his entry on the Beatles, from The
Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll
written assignment:
One or two pages, due by email March 31:
A well-known classical music critic once said to me, years ago, that pop musicians “take no care with what they do.” Do you think this is true? And if it’s not true, why would this well-known critic believe it?
Lester Bangs, “Astral Weeks”
(an example of rock criticism, from Greil Marcus,
ed., Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert
Island)
listen to Van Morrison’s “Madame George”
read the lyrics
Clive Thompson, “Sex, Drugs, and Updating Your Blog,” from the New York Times Magazine, May 13, 2007 (about how to promote a pop career all by yourself, on the Web)
Robert Walser, Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, excerpt (an example of musicological writing about pop music)
listen to Van Halen’s “Runnin’ with the Devil”
reading:
YouTube video:
American Express “Take Charge” commercial, 2009, featuring the prelude to the first Bach cello suite (or part of it), played by Richard Markson
Things to think about, as you do this assignment:
About the Amex commercial:
· Why do you think they used classical music?
· The piece was shortened, to fit the length of the commercial. Is this OK to do?
· When Richard Markson got hired to play the Bach suite for this commercial, was this a good or bad career move?
posts from my blog, about performances that reached a young audience:
“How to Attract a Young Audience”
Be as personal as you like. In fact, the point is to talk about your own thoughts and feelings, about the very personal, individual, even unique reasons why you love the piece you’re talking about. There’s no need to talk about the history of the piece, or its structure, unless these are things that truly excite you. Speak from your heart, in your own way.
April 28
Continuing your presentations in class.