What is Music, who is She? or The Meaning of 'Song'.
27/06/14 11:43 Comment
Along with today's widespread fear and rejection of an almost obscene nine letter word - classical - shock horror!!! - goes the infuriating use of a four letter word - song - to describe anything and everything which has any sort of musical content, be it a brief piece for Japanese Nose Flute Sextet or a 90 minute Symphony. Our largely uncultured leaders regard many of the arts and it seems music in particular as trivial side issues beside the serious business of running the country - down. They seem wilfully to overlook the significant financial contributions made by the arts, film and music to our economy, (which you might imagine would speak strongly to their otherwise keen interest in matters financial) and as a result persist in under supporting this whole area to a disgraceful and indeed quite illogical extent. Music today exists with a boggling variety of styles, genres and cultural origins, amongst which the Western classical tradition forms just a part, but I would argue that as a western nation ourselves we should ensure that all children have at least a passing acquaintance with just a few of the wonders of western classical music created over the last 500 years or so, if only to show how much of today's world of Pop, Jazz, Folk, Rock, Blues, World ad infinitum would not exist without those centuries of creation and development behind them. In the process they could learn that one word does not sufficiently describe all music, that titles do matter and that all the variety of musical forms are not 'songs'; even if they make our hearts sing.
I have noticed responses to the very word classical vary from embarrassed laughter through hasty distancing to strident dissociation. Too many peoples definition of music refers only to that which falls within the whole wide range of 'popular' music and specifically rejects anything seen to lie under the 'classical' umbrella.
I have noticed responses to the very word classical vary from embarrassed laughter through hasty distancing to strident dissociation. Too many peoples definition of music refers only to that which falls within the whole wide range of 'popular' music and specifically rejects anything seen to lie under the 'classical' umbrella.
blog comments powered by Disqus