Scott Morrison posted an article by Paul Horsley, part of which reads:

>For the most part, American music has given in to the Lowell Liebermanns
>and the Aaron Kernises, the Plaza Art Fair composers of
>the classical world.

Well put.  I view the return of tonal music over the past twenty years as
a tribute to the romantic era of music in the 1800's.  That's fine as far
as it goes, but it isn't producing anything new or exciting.  It's sort
of a rehashing of the old stuff but updated to reflect our greater
superficiality.

However, I'm more concerned with the blurring of lines between classical
music and the more popular types of music; also, the blurring of quality is
moving ahead at a fast pace.  The policies of Sony Classical are starting
to take a strong hold with other companies as well - classical music could
become whatever these conglomerates want to call it, and the general public
will eat it up.

Concerning quality, I assume most of you have noticed that marginal
singing voices are now considered among the best ever.  Charlotte Church
has a reputation all out of proportion to her current talents and skills.
I forget the name of the sight-challenged male vocalist whose recordings
are perpetually at the top of the charts, but he's another prime example of
less than excellent quality eating up the hearts of the public.  However,
he's a gem compared to Church.

I've never been thrilled with the fact that the majority of folks do
want large doses of syrup in their music, but that's nothing compared
to the lower performance quality that's now taken as the height of
artistry.  There's a hell of a difference between top-notch syrup and the
bargain-basement variety.  Although dripping with syrup, a piece such as
Debussy's Claire de lune is wonderful music.  Ever immediately follow up
Claire de lune with Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet? That's variety for
the ages.

I'm likely in a grumpy mood, having to get back to the work grind after a
few days of holiday bliss.  Received a very nice DVD player as a gift, but
I'm noticing that lousy movies still stink no matter how clear the screen
may be - that's a shame.

Don Satz
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