Richard D. Russell » Anthony Tommasini http://rdrussell.com Mon, 05 Dec 2016 01:42:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.38 Who said it‚ and when? http://rdrussell.com/who-said-it-and-when http://rdrussell.com/who-said-it-and-when#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:28:26 +0000 http://rdrussell.wordpress.com/?p=245 Here’s an interesting quote from a leader of music conservatories about the state of higher music education: ‚ÄúRight now, when we need musical leaders in every community, we are concerned […]

The post Who said it‚ and when? appeared first on Richard D. Russell.

]]> Here’s an interesting quote from a leader of music conservatories about the state of higher music education:

‚ÄúRight now, when we need musical leaders in every community, we are concerned only with training virtuosi for a nonexistent market… We must develop educated people who are musicians in order to develop music.‚Äù

Was this said last year? Surprisingly, no. It was said in a 1945 essay by William Schuman, then just beginning his 16 year leadership as president of Juilliard; and yet it sounds just as trenchant today.

For more information about William Schuman, who was also a prominent composer in his day, read Anthony Tommasini’s commentary about the lasting influence of Schuman in the 01 April 2010 New York Times.

William Schuman in his Park Avenue apartment, 1991

The post Who said it‚ and when? appeared first on Richard D. Russell.

]]> http://rdrussell.com/who-said-it-and-when/feed 0 When Anything Goes, What Has Merit? http://rdrussell.com/when-anything-goes-what-has-merit http://rdrussell.com/when-anything-goes-what-has-merit#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:54:34 +0000 http://rdrussell.wordpress.com/?p=228 An important article (link below) by Anthony Tommasini in the 14 Feb 2010 New York Times asserts that for both composers and performers, the old “dogma” has been discarded and […]

The post When Anything Goes, What Has Merit? appeared first on Richard D. Russell.

]]>

the kitchen sink

An important article (link below) by Anthony Tommasini in the 14 Feb 2010 New York Times asserts that for both composers and performers, the old “dogma” has been discarded and “anything goes.” This is hardly news anymore, but that’s really not the point of the essay — instead, Tommasini asks the provocative question of why some terrific composers are overlooked. Composers such as David Diamond, Walter Piston, and Samuel Barber are more easily dismissed as (to borrow John Harbison’s phrase) “notes-and-rhythms composers” while, historically, those composers who embrace electronics, unconventional instruments, and atmospherics grab all the attention. In today’s “anything goes” world, is history repeating itself? Are the “notes-and-rhythms” composers being left aside yet again?

A fascinating read, which you can access here.

The post When Anything Goes, What Has Merit? appeared first on Richard D. Russell.

]]> http://rdrussell.com/when-anything-goes-what-has-merit/feed 0