Stirling S Newberry:

>I find the geneology of famous people interesting, because it reminds us
>of what a cascading world it is, with people transplanted from one land
>to another, with crossings and recrossings of peoples and places.  Perhaps
>this is a bit of a reaction to the ethnocentricity which I find around me,
>where people worry about presenting "American" composers or "British"
>composers, where in this very century people tried to pretend that being
>"German" meant not being "Jewish".  As if the national character was some
>kind of petrified spirit that was immutable and indivisible.

I agree.  But I believe that something else is emerging through this and
other discussions on this list.  It is this: Composers are not born they
are, like people in general, made by the environment into which they come
and by the events in their lives.

Some people would have you believe that Mozart and Mendelsohnn were born
child geniuses.  They weren't.  They become accomplished because of the
life chances they had.  Both being born into musical families and
experiencing music from an early age.

There are precious few black and female composers not because of any lack
of innate ability on their part but because of the cultural circumstances
existing for the last 500 years.  Black people, largely denied access to
the white man's music during the day's of slavery and empire, were forced
to create there own music forms; blues and jazz.  Likewise women were
discouraged from becoming composers because of being brought up to know
their place in society.  (Luckily Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelsohn
butted the trend with some marvellous music.)

A small amount of progress has been made to redress the balance in recent
years.  We now have a few world famous black opera singers like Jesse
Norman and Barbara Hendricks (whom I prefer).  We also have a few black
musicians in orchestras.  However there is huge way to go regarding black
and female composers.  And, black people still perceive racial predudice
when applying for orchestral positions.

Unless classical music becomes much more egalitarian in the next century
its survival will be in doubt.

Bob Draper
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