Phase 3: Profit

I think we’re all worried about our local performing arts organizations’ abilities to weather the economic shitstorm. Lately, they seem to be disappearing like Mayans.

Certainly, Miami has not been immune.

Miami City Ballet, which no longer performs to live music, has laid off dancers and pared its $14.8 million annual budget to slightly more than $11 million.

and...

Florida Grand Opera cut its $14-million annual budget about 30 percent, froze wages and canceled a concert series.

and...

And the Concert Association of Florida, once the major presenter of classical music in Miami-Dade and Broward, filed for bankruptcy liquidation in February.

and...

The Concert Association's closure widened the void left by the 2003 bankruptcy of the Florida Philharmonic and the demise of Broward Friends of Chamber Music.

Yikes. It’s sure rough out there. But the young Miami Symphony isn’t giving in to the challenging climate.

''The crisis for an organization like ours was going to be more helpful than damaging,'' [conductor Eduardo Marturet] says, ``because we had no choice but to grow or disappear.''

Hmm. Interesting, if not impossible, opposition. Nevertheless, good for you! I like the arts. Keep them going!

''A fresh approach to orchestra management is really prevailing,'' says concertmaster Daniel Andai.

''It's like a gem that needs to be polished to become a precious stone,'' says Rafael Diaz-Balart, board chairman. ``We are going to get there.''

Like I said, good for you. But how are you going to get there?

Founded in 1989 by Cuban immigrants -- Ochoa, and his wife, Sofia, who recently retired as executive director -- Miami Symphony long recruited board members and musicians who were most familiar to its core leaders.

That meant the symphony, its leadership and its supporters were largely homogenous.

I’m not sure I follow.

Getting there will take more money, Diaz-Balart says, and, perhaps more important, a change in the orchestra's image as a predominantly Hispanic cultural group.

Huh?

''It operated and developed very much as a Cuban-American, Hispanic organization for many years,'' Diaz-Balart says. ``And, I think, as a result of that aspect of the organization, we encountered certain—

[hedge]

--not necessarily obstacles-- but we were not properly represented on the board of directors by all the communities that exist in Miami, and as a result our outreach into the different communities . . .

[think about what you say, now]

was hampered.''

Unless I’m reading into this way too much (which is a possibility), this sounds like...

Well, I’ll just say this: the majority of Miami-Dade’s population is Hispanic, but that’s not where the money is.












Phase 1: Get rid of the poor Hispanics
Phase 2: ...
Phase 3: Profit

Spare Some Change?

The Miami Herald gave up some space for recently-retired high school counselor Robin Sarantos, PhD, to make a plea for more music education in our schools. Sounds great. I’m all for it.

So let’s rip it up!

-

But first, let’s start with the ending, also known as the “thesis,” in some rhetorical circles.

Music Education is one business that must be on top of the investment podium.

Great! Now, sell it.

Music -- it lifts the soul.

By “soul,” I hope you mean, “It increases the levels of dopamine produced by the adrenal medula—first signaled by the pituitary—which rewards pleasurable activities.” Just saying.

It allows the mind and body to express their deepest yearnings.

...like acrylic bronzing on a bodybuilder.













Figure 1. Yearning expressed, rewarded


Even the youngest can feel this.

100% right! They do have brains...

...with basic skill sets and learning capabilities.

Contemporary, classical, rock music -- all types stimulate the mind.

Uh-oh. See, a perception is a reaction to some kind of stimulation, in this case aural stimulation, or air pressure. Thus, EVERY kind of music is a kind of stimulation. I just don’t think Robin is saying what she thinks she’s saying.

Music allows for imagination...

Stimulates the imagination.

...and helps children to focus.

Kind of. I would say, rather, “music is something on which to focus.”

Whatever. All I’m saying is that to convince your local superintendent to give your music program more money probably requires a little less romanticizing and a little more concrete evidence.

Music then is an important part of education.

And, like I said before: I agree. But...

Indeed, sharing music can become one of those delightful parent or grandparent experiences.

Irrelevant.

And it doesn't cost a thing.

You’re not helping your cause. Remember: You’re trying to get more money.

Remember: Kids love an audience.

And? That’s why we need more money for more music in our schools?

Frequently, a teacher will have classical music playing as a class enters. It relaxes.

That is, if you believe your local classical radio station. Instead, how about smaller class sizes? Better teachers? Fewer standardized tests? Anything but teaching your kids that classical music is boring!

It calms and can increase academic performance.

Arg! But you haven’t mentioned that it might be related to problem solving instead of sedation. Causality is important here.

And children learn ''concert etiquette'' by going to musical programs.

...?...

Learning appropriate manners at concerts transfers to other educational settings and environments as well as classroom behavior.

Weird association. So, “concert etiquette” teaches children to behave; and that’s why we should want more money for our school music programs?

Music doesn’t teach them how to successfully write grants, but at least there’ll be less need, thus cost, to have armed police officers on campus.

Music programs in schools invite the public to attend their concerts. There will be many spring concerts. Some are free. Other facilities charge a couple of dollars.

Totally irrelevant.

Concert bands, orchestras and jazz are so important in school.

I way hear you.

Financial times are hard. Budgets are stretched to the limit. But we must not allow schools to cancel their performing arts programs.

I still way hear you.

Cut back -- perhaps. Cancel, no.

I’m so with you.

Parents need to rally and insist that part of a well-rounded education includes being exposed to music.

Like, I’m totally, so way with you.

The fine arts programs pay dividends throughout the child's life and into adulthood. Youngsters are our future and we need to invest heavily in them.

Dude. Right on!

Music Education is one business that must be on top of the investment podium.

Why was that, again?
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Craigslist: Gusman Hall Area, FL

For sale: A nicely performed Schubert. Only 201 years-old! Sorry, no longer under factory warranty.

Written in the last year of Schubert's short life -- the composer died at 31 -- the [Piano Sonata in B flat, D. 960] carries a firm sense of autobiography...

Autobiography actually lost in house fire, around 1885 (?). All other documentation lost as well. But take it from an experienced musician who has owned this magnificent piece for over 30 years!

May contain structural redundancy:

[Pianist Radu] Lupu's explosive minor-key outbursts showed that there is no victory to be found beneath the work's surface superficialities.

Otherwise in near mint condition. Has been played on a Steinway from the best years (mid-1920s).

A one of a kind piece, adorned with many colorful adjectives!

...its main theme's progress continually undermined by malign bass trills and harmonic displacement.

and

...the works' improvisatory qualities with their dynamic jolts and hectic humor.

Recently inspected by the Miami Herald. Selling for $12,500 (appraised at $15,000) OBO. You won’t be disappointed! Take it for a test drive, here, here, here, here, and here.

Scammers not welcome.
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Fact-Checking Is Still Hard

“Tripp is a perfectly acceptable name.” Only, that’s not true. I can’t go around making these things up; they’ll come back and bite me on the ass, one of these days. Or worse, if I say these things in public media, over time, they might become culturally true (the phenomenon where a falsity is reiterated enough times it becomes true). Hence, some unfortunate people are named Tripp. (Poor little guy)

It works the same way for information about music. If you’ve stuck with DR for while, you might recall an anecdote about my uncle: He bought a recording of Wozzeck, liked it, then asked me what was twelve-tone about it, because, contrary to what he heard, it was pretty. Where did he receive the information that twelve-tone music is ugly? Hmmm...

My gripe today is rather small, but the same principle applies. And we need to set the record straight.

Gyorgy Ligeti wrote his Horn Trio in 1982 after a five-year silence following his opera Le Grand Macabre, a breakthrough that led to a series of concertos over the next decade.

Bzzzt! Wrong.

-

For the record:

(And I’ll be generous and give Lawrence 1992, just because it looks prettier [1982-1992], even though that’s eleven years.)

Ligeti wrote exactly one concerto in those eleven years—the Piano Concerto. THAT’S ALL—one concerto, not a series of concerti. He started the Violin Concerto in 1989, but didn’t finish it until 1993. His Hamburg Concerto, for horn, was written in 1999 and subsequently revised in 2002.

On the other end of the spectrum (before 1982), Ligeti wrote:

1. Romanian Concerto, for orchestra (1951)
2. Cello Concerto (1966)
3. Chamber Concerto (1970)
4. Double Concerto, for flute and oboe (1972)

Oh, and in those five years of silence: Scenes and Interludes from Le Grande Macabre (for four soloists, chorus and orchestra), Hungarian Rock (harpsichord), Passacaglia ungherese (harpsichord), and Hommage a Hilding Rosenberg (violin and cello).

-

Other than that, the review is pretty alright.

(A link to the Detritus Hall, where one can find Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto)
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The Critic's Paradox (Epitaph)

Here’s an example of what I have come to see as the critic's paradox.

With its mix of vigor, wit and stark introspection, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor can handle a variety of approaches.

No shit, Sherlock! In fact, I would posit that, aside from tape pieces (just as an easy example), music is indeed amenable to interpretation by performers—this is what performers do: they interpret.

But, the preceding is just an empty, poetic smokescreen acting as a transition toward:

...there should be surely be [sic] more edge beyond an uncomplicated bonhomie.

“Surely” surely is the equivalent of screaming louder to sound smart. “Should be” should be axed. Is this a critique of pianist Emanuel Ax’s interpretation? Or is it the author’s personal preference, stated without an attempt to understand why Ax is playing the piece in a particular manner?

If the latter, then the author is disallowing Ax an interpretive voice. In other words, “Ax is just doing it wrong.” Therefore, he couldn’t possibly have anything worthwhile to say.

And if you want some complicated bonhomie, I suggest dating your editor.

This lack was most palpable in the Largo -- arguably, Beethoven's most beautiful concerto slow movement -- where after a rushed phrasing of the yielding main theme, the soloist seemed content to glide on the music's graceful surface without exploring its expressive depths. [no explanation follows]

1) Who argues which Beethoven concerto slow movement is the most beautiful? That’s lame and not worth my time.

2) How would the author know if Ax was trying to explore “its expressive depths” if he doesn’t allow him an interpretive voice, if there’s a better, not different, way to do things?

Just saying. This sounds like it was written by a stodgy, old curmudgeon, unwilling to open his mind to new, different possibilities.

On the other hand, to critique is to have a bias. Enter paradox.
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A Classical Orchestra Does Not Classical Music Make

Let’s say you’re itching to go out to dinner. (Don’t worry about the money, it’s on me. Besides, you never invested in those failing mortgage companies. So, I guess you’re doing pretty well. Wait! Screw that. You’re paying!) So, like I said, you’re itching to go out to dinner and you want to try that cute little French fusion place on the corner of Main Street and Six-Pack Boulevard. It’s name, in huge neon lights, is Chez Empiricusoise. Below its name, it says, “French Fusion Family Ristorante.” (Remember, it’s “fusion,” after all.) You happily step inside, where you’re taken to your table. Looking over the lengthy menu, you become even more excited. “This is exactly what I wanted. Ooh, look! Coq au vin with pineapple!” The waiter, with a smile, takes your order and brings over some bread and water to whet your appetite. After a good twenty minutes, the waiter returns with your food...a large, uncut pineapple sans coq au vin. Bewildered, besmirched and a little pissed, you begrudgingly take your knife and begin cutting through the tough rind of the pineapple. It’s certainly not what you expected, but it tastes kinda good, anyway.

Columbian musicians mix up a classical gas

A mocking “ha, ha,” to the editor. Still, though, the concert sounds kind of appealing.

Mixing high and low, folk and fine art sounds appealing -- bring the energy and empathy of pop culture to the depth and formal beauty of classicism.

Dangerous thing to insinuate: “the energy and empathy of pop culture” and “the depth and formal beauty of classicism” are mutually exclusive. Still! Fusion fun!

And Vallenato Sinfonica, the union of popular vallenato act Jorge Celedón and Jimmy Zambrano with a classical ensemble, presented Friday night at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, sounded like a particularly intriguing version of this mix.

So, how’d it go? This Columbian/Classical fusion concert thingy? (skipping to the end)

It wasn't classical, but it was plenty moving.

But, but, but...you and your editor tricked me into thinking it was this fusiony concert, when it was actually Columbian music with some instruments that one might find in a classical music ensemble. It wasn’t even a pops-like concert, just Columbian music. How was this ever mixed up in the first place?

-

Also, this oddity:

Roll over Apollo, there's a hoedown at the symphony!

Setting aside the fact that this wasn’t a symphonic concert, where in the world does this expression come from? Columbia?

I tried my best to find this expression via Google, Jstor, Socrates and even PubMed. I don’t think it exists. Any help? Sure, I know of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” but “roll over Apollo?” Is our author—knowing that Apollo, among other things, was the god of music—insinuating that the Columbian music was, I don’t know, not music Apollo would like? That it’s inferior to the symphony? That this music will not fix the economy? Any guesses, dear Detritusites?
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Enjoy Your Symptoms, America!

We’re a little late on this one, but if you haven’t heard, the Miami Herald had to navigate a 17% cutback. And, as usual, classical music is the first to take one in the ass. Critic Lawrence A. Johnson has been offered an involuntary buyout, which he accepted, or, as Musical America noted, was forced to accept.

I know we’ve had our differences with Lawrence at times, but we still love him. So, on behalf of The Detritus Review:



















Stop making us wash your dirty underwear, newspaper higher-ups! You don’t deserve our arts, anyway.

According to Musical America, both the KC Star (Paul Horsley) and the Herald are owned by the same parent company, McClatchy Co., who is trying to offset the vast debt incurred from its purchase of the media conglomerate Knight Ridder (terrible name, by the way).

And as we have said too often before: Good luck in the blogosphere! Lawrence, as a parting/welcoming gift: a way for everyone to find your new blog, South Florida Classical Review, from us.

(Upset With Undewear by Jana Bartouskova)
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Bad Metaphors Are Bad

Lawrence A. Johnson of the Miami Herald has a nice piece about the state of orchestras in America. It seems that the Concert Association's new director's bottom-line philosophy is causing the subscribers some consternation.

This is a huge problem. The state of concert attendance, coupled with the state of the economy, is causing orchestras (and, evidently, numerous newspapers' arts sections) financial difficulties.

However, bad metaphors are still not allowed.

Concert Association moves worry ticket subscribers

I bet they do!

Ten days ago, London's Philharmonia Orchestra roared out the end of Mahler's Symphony No. 1, closing the Concert Association of Florida's season on a resoundingly successful note.

Ah, the music season ended on a note. Classic. Pedantic, perhaps, but classic. And apt! Carry on...

But there are minor-key discords on the horizon.

But...What? No. Because, see...

Discords. Minor keys. Both of these things (more concepts than things, really) have...some connotations of sadness, negativity, and the like. But in trying to extend your musical analogy, you have failed. Choosing either minor keys or dissonance to make your point would have been...adequate.

Dissonance is the same in minor and major keys.

Dissonances require resolution (in tonal music). Regardless of the key.

Minor keys have a (completely societal) extra-musical connotation of sadness, gravity, and so forth.

"Minor-key" (why the hyphen?) "dissonances" is just nonsense. Nonsense? Nonsense!

Obligatory Anti-Serialist Post of the Week

Oh, inherent bias, what would we do without you? Welcome to Miami, dear readers.

A smart, quirky pairing

In their contrasts, Franz Schubert and Alban Berg make a complementary pair.

Fair enough, I suppose. Contrasts compliment. Is that really quirky? This is quirky. Pairing two composers from the same city that lived less than a century apart seems more like…contrast, or complimentary. You said that. In your first sentence.

Both composers were, in very different ways, intrinsically Viennese and each man died young -- Schubert, most tragically, at 31.

Is dying at 50 (from an infected abscess from a bee sting) really less tragic than dying at 31? I mean, I suppose, maybe. Both tragic, though.

Schubert's genius added harmonic complexity and metaphysical angst to Biedermeier-era complacency.

Interesting sentiment. Note, however the construction: Schubert = genius. Let’s see what happens next!

Berg's lyricism and emotional depth put a human face on the chilly serialism of the Second Viennese School.

Ah, the inevitable backhanded knock on serialism. Schubert = genius. Serialism = chilly. Berg = mediates chilliness with warm emotion and lyricism. Not genius, though. That's reserved for pre-1900 composers.

Michael Tilson Thomas's smart, quirky programming combined works of both men for a bracing weekend Viennese festival by the New World Symphony. Friday night's opening event at the Lincoln Theatre set the tone with Berg's Lyric Suite and Schubert's Mass in E flat.

Mr. Johnson’s review of the Schubert can be read via the link at the top (and it's perfectly cromulent). I am only concerned with the inherent bias about…

Berg remains the most passionate and directly communicative

Passionate! Communicative! Emotional! Lyrical! Fuck that chilly non-genius Schoenberg! He totally didn’t write Pierrot Lunaire (which, in all fairness, is pre-12-tone, but also passionate, lyrical, emotional, and communicative all the same).

of the 12-tone school's early triumvirate (Schoenberg and Webern, being the other two).

You don’t say. And, what’s with, the, comma?

His Lyric Suite was born of an impassioned but apparently unconsummated love for a married woman.

So they say! What else?

Though written in 1928, Berg's Lyric Suite breathes an atmosphere of findesíecle

Although this could be an internet publishing error, someone should proofread these things. Fin de siecle (while I appreciate the italics) is totally ThreeDifferentWords.

Though written in 1928, Berg's Lyric Suite breathes an atmosphere of findesíecle Viennese decadence, the world of Gustav Klimt and Thomas Mann.

Even though…what? Thomas Mann: 1875-1955. Won the Pulitzer in 1929, the year after this particular Berg piece was published. Completely contemporary. Klimt died in 1918, but is still roughly contemporaneous with Berg and Mann. For no real reason, here is a picture by Klimt that is fun to look at.

The romantic inspiration is clear with its Tristan quotation but Berg deftly creates a kind of wrong-note Mahler, fusing subdued tragedy and emotional intensity within serial strictures.

Wrong-note Mahler. Seriously? Crap. (deep breath)

Berg wrote wrong notes!? What a lyrical emotional passionate chilly fool. Those damn serialists! They had no fucking idea.

The sense of romantic yearning and dark foreboding was clearly palpable in Friday's performance under Tilson Thomas. The burnished strings brought out the angular music of the opening movement as much as the mystery and elliptical strangeness of the multi-divided strings in the central movement and the dark-hued somber valedictory of the final section.

To sum up: Berg’s Lyric Suite is lyrical, passionate, emotional, and communicative, which mediates the cold chill of his technique of writing wrong notes, but is still angular, foreboding, elliptical, and dark-hued.

Whee!

Uh... oops.

I ran across this weird little tidbit from Lawrence A. Johnson of the Miami Herald. There really is no easy way to... no. I know what he means, but... no. Maybe, he should have... no. Well...

Here it is:

At times, there could have been more unbridled animal passion from the Chorale members...

Apparently a quick Google search for “animal passion” will bring up more than one... no.

I mean, there’s loving animals, then there’s... no.

Just be careful, man; it’s a big, big world.

You're Doing It Wrong

Similes are not that hard.

One thing is equated, figuratively rather than literally, to another. Their meta-qualities are put into a kind of ratio, if you will. The reader is asked to find the similarities between objects that are, perhaps, not usually, or only tangentially, related.

Lawrence A. Johnson of the Miami Herald demonstrates the concept for us in this article.

By now, the Cleveland Orchestra's vaunted refinement and virtuosity are known quantities locally after two Miami residency seasons.

Good.

Still, while owning a Rolls-Royce is nice, someone with skilled hands still needs to operate the controls.

Um. Okay, that is a metaphor, and not a simile, but…well…really? Normal drivers cannot operate a Rolls? Hmm. Continue.

Music director Franz Welser-Most's Miami concerts have been uneven to date, which increases the interest on those programs directed by guest conductors.

Fine.

Now 36, Midori has been before the public since she was 10 and her artistry has only deepened, as was made clear in the Japanese violinist's revisionist take on Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.

Okay.

The Russian war horse is performed so often as a vehicle for surface fireworks and ego-driven solo display that one can forget the depths in the score.

Sure…

Like centuries of grime removed from ancient paintings, Midori's refined poetic sensibility made one appreciate this music anew.

The…

Reading. Writing? Comprehending…

The sentence above insinuates that “Midori’s refined poetic sensibility” is like, in some way, “grime removed from ancient paintings”.

What?

Midori's sensibility is...like...grime?

I don't think that's what was intended here.

Let me take a crack at that failed sentence.

“Like ancient paintings from which ancient grime has been removed, Midori’s refined poetic sensibility…”

No. That equates the ancient paintings to Midori’s poetic sensibility. Which is similarly nonsensical.

The apparent meaning is that Midori’s sensibility reveals intricacies in the score that have been obscured (by centuries of War-horse-ness) somewhat like the removal of grime from ancient paintings reveals hidden details, or whatnot.

I think?

Reader challenge! Make it make sense, dammit!

"...Winningly Sardonic..." -The Detritus Review

(In a deep, gruff, intense, whispering voice)

From the minds who brought you the Russian National Orchestra, comes an imposing pianist,

Click here

an electrifying star of staggering force.

Click here

A pianist so jaw dropping, so strong,

Click here

you’ll vociferously ovate. A pianist, six-foot four and from the cold of Siberia, who brings massive strength and seemingly effortless power

Click here

to Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3; a pianist who brings a full-metal assault to a spiky warhorse.

Click here

Accompanied by a symphony possessed of a dark, deep-pile sonority with balances dominated

Click here

by its ample strings, Prokofiev will be set on fire. Together, they laugh at landmines.

Click here

They laugh at nuclear bombs.

Click here

The Miami Herald calls it, “...one of the most thrilling edge-of-the-seat adrenaline rides of the season.”

Click here

You’ll be left... high. His name?

Click here

Denis Matsuev. Can. You. Top. This? Coming to a theater near you.

Hyphens and New Music!

How to make modern music user friendly

Once again, someone’s style sheet forbids capitalization in titles. Why? Also, “user-friendly” should likely be hyphenated. (See previous post….)

However, this is exciting! We’re going to learn to do what the title promises, I hope. If not, I will be disappointed. And probably sarcastic.

The promising yet still-nascent state of Miami's modern-music scene is evident by the fact that many of its most adventurous events are presented by universities and their affiliates.

Minor points in re: hyphens: “Modern-music”? I think you mean “modern music”? “Still-nascent” is…fine. But it sounds like “stillborn”. Which is creepy.

A worthy example is Sara Laimon's compelling piano recital Thursday night at the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach, which offered a trio of contemporary works spanning three generations of composers.

By “is” I think you mean “was”, because “offered” is past tense. Also considering that the concert took place [last] Thursday. Nitpicking. But still excited? How are we going to make modern-music user friendly? Or modern music user-friendly? Whichever.

A founder and co-artistic director of the New York-based experimental music group Sequitur, Laimon is an extraordinary musician with a prodigious technique allied to a communicative precision well suited to this music and evident in her user-friendly spoken introductions.

“Well-suited” should also have a hyphen, I think. But now we’ve got our “user-friendly” hyphen. At least you’re not consistent!

Are the “user-friendly” spoken introductions how we’re going to make modern music user-friendly? I can’t wait to find out!

Cast in seven sections, Brian Cherney's In the Stillness of the Seventh Autumn is loosely inspired by words of Debussy and T. S. Eliot, with music meant to evoke an open-ended mystery. Cherney fuses Impressionist elements with 21st century edge, as with isolated ''thudded'' notes, in which Laimon manually mutes the piano strings. There are aggressive outbursts, but a peaceful, limpid atmosphere predominates. The Canadian composer's work utilizes the entire keyboard, and Laimon made all the turbulence, subtle hues and stark effects register incisively with extraordinary focus.

You should meet my friend Empiricus. He loves adjective-laden phrases. I, on the other hand, love correct hyphen usage!

Harold Meltzer's Piano Sonata is likely the first work written in 2008 to be heard on the local music scene. The Brooklyn-born Meltzer is co-artistic director of Sequitur with Laimon, for whom this work was written. His Sonata was inspired by Cezanne's use of light and shade and effectively mines three-part sonata form with a graceful merging of tradition and contemporary style.

“Three-part” = well done! Still waiting for the explanation about the user-friendly thing, though.

There's a motoric, Prokofiev-like driving energy but also a distinctly American feel. Meltzer's sonata suggests early Copland in its spiky, acerbic writing, yet there's a compelling individuality in its quickly shifting meters, jazz-flavored syncopations and hushed coda. Meltzer, who was in attendance Thursday, will have his Piano Concerto premiered next month by Ursula Oppens with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

I see a Mad Lib in your future! What about the…

At 83, Ezra Laderman was the most veteran composer represented. Written in 2002, his Piano Sonata No. 3 is an epic work, spanning about 50 minutes in three movements, with a middle part of 10 shorter sections.

…user-friendly…

The opening Fantasia switches expressive gears, going from violent outbursts to an uneasy, pensive calm. The final movement is a set of variations that grows increasingly agitated with moments of hard-won solace, closing with a quiet air of resigned transcendence.

...you were saying that we can make modern music…

Laderman withdrew the sonata's subtitle The Circus of My Mind, yet it's hard to avoid the feeling that this vast, varied central movement amounts in large part to a bracing self-portrait, given such descriptive titles as ''Mercurial,'' ''Forceful, Brusque,'' and ''Driven and Impetuous.'' Laimon showed complete mastery of this sprawling music in a tour-de-force performance that was alive to its brooding reflection as well as forcefully articulating in the bravura pages.

…user-friendly. Did you forget? Surely not. Surely your final paragraph will clear everything up!

Kathleen Wilson, FIU's new director of music, is a committed contemporary-music advocate, and perhaps such one-off events as Thursday's could be expanded into a mini-series of modern piano and chamber music at the Wolfsonian, with its intimate venue offering the perfect setting.

Is…is it the perfect setting that makes modern music user-friendly? Or the spoken introductions? One-off? Mini-series? Contemporary-music? Really? Ugh.

Oh, I get it. It’s hyphens. Sigh.

This Sucks Dick

I'm not sure what to make of this. Philip Glass, scheduled to perform some of his piano music for the University of Miami, received an injury causing him to cancel the performance (Miami Herald).

“One of my kids jumped into my arms... and he bent my finger back.”

He actually told this to a reporter.


But this is also very disturbing.

You most certainly have entertained my dislike of interchangeable/vague-and-meaningless adjectives. And, to a degree, I acknowledge that it may be overly nitpicky. But why waste words, when it can be said in a clear coherent manner? So far, the only answer I have goes something like this:

(speaking as a critic)

The writer of classical music reviews has an obligation to compete, along with the other writers of other subjects and advertisements, for column space and, thus, readership. And the only way to do so is to mimic those “extreme” cultural norms, i.e., over-inflate the language, to give it some Gestalt, to make it sound bigger, to sound more important, than it really is.

My problem is that this kind of writing further confuses the music critic’s readership, alienating them from the possibility of understanding something about unfamiliar music. I do understand that music is ephemeral—it is an art, if you will, of memory—and that adjectives are often necessary to best describe, in word form, what happened. I also accept minor ambiguities, like:

...relentless momentum...

But even there, I find a problem. Does the author intend to suggest that there is a kind of “driving towards a goal,” or “snowballing growth,” momentum? Or does the author mean, instead of momentum, motion? Granted, either interpretation may be relevant to a particular work. However, we’re talking about Philip Glass, whose musical ideas (motifs, phrases, etc.) often meander (minimalism), but the motion is continuous (e.g., fast and continuous eighth-notes).

It is difficult to screw up an interview, or at least in the transcribing of one. And in many respects, this is a very insightful interview. The only problem I have is when Lawrence A. Johnson, the interviewer, interjects, adding his own “insightful” quips. Often, they are fine, or neutral. But this particular segue way, about Glass’s Violin Concerto, just sucks dick.

But first, I’ll give it to you in Mad Lib form.

In many ways the concerto seems to represent Glass at his most approachable and characteristic, imbuing a traditional form with his brand of (adj.) energy, (adj.) riffs and a (adj.), (adj.) lyricism that is distinctive in its (adj.), (adj.) sensibility.

Just remove the adjectives and this sounds pretty good. I get it. But I can still reword it so it’s even more clear:

“The Violin Concerto represents the quintessential Glass: a traditional form infused with his own distinctive brand of energy, riffs and lyricism.”

Personally, I think that sounds very good. But, obviously, this is not what was written. So we continue.

Now, just for fun, try to match the following adjectives with their appropriate placement within the actual sentence.

Sad
Urgent
Rock-like
Urban
Modern
Wistful

In many ways the concerto seems to represent Glass at his most approachable and characteristic, imbuing a traditional form with his brand of (adj.) energy, (adj.) riffs and a (adj.), (adj.) lyricism that is distinctive in its (adj.), (adj.) sensibility.

If you’re like me, the only one that really seems obvious is “rock-like.” Rock-like riffs. Correct! Even if all that comes to mind is “Iron Man,” which is probably not particularly an indicative Glass-ism. That leaves us with these:

Sad
Urgent
Urban
Modern
Wistful

And this:

In many ways the concerto seems to represent Glass at his most approachable and characteristic, imbuing a traditional form with his brand of (adj.) energy, rock-like riffs and a (adj.), (adj.) lyricism that is distinctive in its (adj.), (adj.) sensibility.

Aside from “rock-like,” I don’t feel confident assigning an adjective to the other blanks. I could make a case for and against every adjective in every space.

This is my problem with over-abundant adjectives. If you merely gloss over the sentence (in it’s original form) I can kind of get a sense of what Glass is about (or what Larry Johnson thinks about Glass), in which case the adjectives did their jobs. However, if I really think about the appropriateness of each one, I get confused. Very confused. Is it really “modern energy?” Or “urban energy?” Or “urgent energy?” I don’t know. Each one sort of makes sense. But, because “urgent energy” is not a thing, nor is it sufficiently differentiated from “traditional form,” I would have guessed that the correct pairing is “urban energy.”

Here’s the actual sentence:

In many ways the concerto seems to represent Glass at his most approachable and characteristic, imbuing a traditional form with his brand of urgent energy, rock-like riffs and a sad, wistful lyricism that is distinctive in its modern, urban sensibility.

Just sad.

That said, and to hedge a little, this was a very interesting interview. It was mostly, well-written. But, this one sentence, this one confusing, misleading, over-inflated excuse of a sentence, chaps my hide. There were so few opportunities to really F this up.

Like I’ve said before, this is not an isolated case of Color Me Badd journalism, it’s rampant, almost to a point where it’s the standard. This is one of the reasons why The Detritus exists. I just happened to catch Lawrence Johnson on a bad day. One on which Glass outs his son for sabotaging a concert.