So, I've been away for a while. Sorry. There's just really been little I wanted to post about, so I chose just not to. I know it's been tough, but it's okay. I'm back and will be posting more soon, including posts on nine inch nails, E-Z Pass, decadence, and, oh yeah, political music.
At any rate, I thought I would ease back into things by sharing an interesting passage from Jesse Green's review of the new Aldridge/Garfein opera "Elmer Gantry"--after Sinclair Lewis--which opens tomorrow at Montclair State University after a well-received run in Nashville. As a composer who is starting to write more and more in the "operatic" world--for lack of a better word--I found this passage quite illuminating.
"Writing an opera requires a certain amount of arrogance, and putting one on takes at least enough incompetence to cause producers to risk financial suicide. It’s tempting to say that the system as it now exists is designed to frustrate both qualities in favor of safe mediocrity, except that the system has no design at all."
- Jesse Green, NY TImes, January 20, 2008
Ah, that definitely makes me feel better.
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music, politics, newspeak, and more.
The title of this blog comes from the 1934 Workers' Songbook, which states in its foreword: "Music is a Weapon in the Class Struggle." This idea served as justification/ motivation for many young, left- leaning composers of that period, like Seeger, Eisler, and Blitzstein. From what one reads, these composers really believed—at least at the time—that music could bring about real social change at a time of great social crisis, and composed their music accordingly.
At a time when history may well be repeating, these seem like interesting and important ideas to once again consider. ( I am also writing my dissertation on related issues, and intend to share bits of that when they're ready.)
I also write about heavy metal. Sometimes.
At a time when history may well be repeating, these seem like interesting and important ideas to once again consider. ( I am also writing my dissertation on related issues, and intend to share bits of that when they're ready.)
I also write about heavy metal. Sometimes.
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