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Date: | Fri, 14 Jul 2000 18:46:20 -0500 |
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Len Fehskens replies to me:
>>I think what you'd find in concert programming, although I have no solid
>>figures to back me up, that very little 20th-century music of any stripe
>>has been programmed in the U.S.
>
>This is clearly not the case for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has something of a tradition of
playing 20th-century stuff, as has the NY Phil since Bernstein, at any
rate. Cleveland under Rodzinski, Boulez, and Dohnanyi have played more
20th-century music than what one usually gets. We could argue, I suppose,
over percentages, but that's petty and uninteresting. However, the major
musical centers are not by themselves the musical life of the country.
I've lived, for example, in the classical-music backwater of New Orleans
for over twenty years. Outside of local composers, I can assure you that
I can list the number of 20th-century pieces played by the local symphony
on a single sheet of paper. And an even more pitiable amount of
contemporary music.
There are compilations of such figures made by various advocacy groups that
show up on the list from time to time. I don't believe that 20th-century
music from "all" American musical organizations has ever amounted to more
than a third of the programming, although I could be mistaken.
Steve Schwartz
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