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Session One THREE NEGLECTED B’S

WELCOME TO “THE GREATEST MUSIC YOU MAY NEVER HAVE HEARD” This course is based on a sad truth: that we, as listeners, have access to only a tiny, tiny fragment of the vast repertoire of classical music. In the next eight weeks we’ll explore the reasons why some of this music is popular and some is not; why some is performed very often in classical concerts or played very often on the radio, and some is not; why there are many CD’s, DVD’s, and MP3 recordings of some pieces, and not of others. And we’ll explore a bigger question: why we, as a culture, place a higher value on some classical composers and pieces, and a lower value on others. But, before we go any further, let me say briefly what the course is NOT about, so that you will know in more detail what to expect:

• It is NOT about esoteric, obscure, or arcane music - not about music that is accessible to only a few of us - but about mainstream classical music that could be accessible to all of us

• It is NOT about opera, for I have excluded this fascinating genre because of the length and complexity involved in discussing it

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• It is NOT about music before 1600, because most of that music was composed to fit the specific requirements of the courts or churches that commissioned it. In that era, classical music always served a specific private purpose. The idea that the general public should have reasonable access to music was an 18th century idea.

• It is NOT about the technical aspects of writing or analyzing music, but about listening to it and increasing our appreciation of it.

NEGLECTED MASTERPIECE OF THE WEEK As an example of the kind of music we will be talking about, let’s begin by listening to a neglected piece by one of today’s featured composers. (Editor’s note: sadly, we don’t know what piece Larry played at this point. However, based on his play list, it may have been Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia.) WHY NEGLECTED? THE INHERENT VALUE ARGUMENT You might assume that the most obvious reason is the inherent value of the music itself: for the classical repertoire is vast and includes composers of many different degrees of talent and inspiration. According to this argument, some classical music is more interesting, more beautiful, or more inspiring, that other music, or speaks to something deeper within us, than does other music.

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But you may have noticed that all these are subjective preferences, and we will often disagree on them. In preparing for this course, I’ve had to fight my way past my own prejudices; otherwise you would have been listening to Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion eight weeks in a row! Still, the Inherent Value argument is not simply a fallacy that can easily be brushed aside. For musical experts of every stripe will tell you why some classical works really are better, or more beautiful, or more relevant, or more inspiring, than others. This course will not delve in any detail into these arguments, except, or course, for my own preferences, which you will see reflected in each class session. This fact may be obvious, but it doesn’t begin to account for how our culture values – or devalues – various kinds of classical music. There are many other considerations that affect how we value it. As we will discover, some of these reasons have to do with the nature of the music itself, while others have to do with other, non-musical issues. To name just a few, these reasons include:

• Nationality - the nation or ethnic group to which a composer belongs. In 21st century America, we above all value music written by German composers, and a few Russians and – if opera were to be included – a few Italians – and to devalue music composed by other nationalities, including our own. (The popularity of a

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few pieces by Aaron Copland is an exception that proves the rule).

• Gender - We value music by men composers more than music by women composers. (Quick – name five women composers, or five pieces by women composers. How about five well-known women performers or conductors?)

• Historical Era – the century or era of music history in

which the music was created. In the 18th century, only “new” music (written within the past five years or so) was tolerated, but in the 21st century we tend to devalue new music and very old music and to favor music that is between 100 and 300 years old. As we shall see later this morning, our culture values music that is in one of the well-known historical styles, such as medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical or romantic – and devalues music that is not. So, it can be said that the year of a composer’s birth determines to a great extent whether his or her music will be favored or neglected.

• Length –We tend to devalue short pieces and very long

pieces and to favor pieces that last between 10 and 45 minutes.

• Critical Opinion – the degree of positive or negative

opinion about a composer or piece held by music critics - and lately, by music lovers themselves. We tend to undervalue music not approved by leading

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critics; performers do also; they are highly influenced in their choices of repertoire by the opinions of their teachers, critics, and fellow performers).

• Difficulty – the degree of skill and/or complexity

required by performers and listeners. We tend to over-value pieces that are showy and difficult to perform and to devalue pieces that sound simple and easy to play. A leading culprit here is the career aspirations of virtuoso musicians, who believe they must astonish their audiences with virtuosity in order to sell concert tickets and CD’s.

• Genre: the instruments or combination of instruments

for which the music was written. First, as a culture we value instrumental music and devalue vocal music. Second, we value music for familiar instruments, like the piano or violin, and devalue music for unusual instruments, like percussion or the trombone. Third, we value music for familiar combinations of instruments - a string quartet, for example, or a symphony orchestra or a large church choir, and to devalue music composed for unusual combinations of instruments, which might have to be assembled especially for a performance. And fourth, we devalue pieces in any genre by composers who are famous for other genres. For example, did you know that Verdi wrote a very fine string quartet, or that Chopin wrote seventeen songs?

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• Form – the number of sections within a piece, and the amount of repetition it includes. We value pieces in familiar forms that contain a balance of repetition and change, and to avoid pieces with unusual formal patterns, such as constant repetition or no repetition at all.

• Subject Matter – the purpose for which the piece was

written and the venue in which it was expected to be performed. Our largely secular 21st century culture values music that has secular subjects, such as love, or death, and we devalue music that as a religious or sacred subject, such as prayer or praise.

• Politics and Censorship - the degree to which our

access to music is influenced by political, cultural and financial interests. As a culture we value music which has resisted or survived the control of regimes we dislike (the music of Shostakovich, for example) and devalue music that conforms to some political or cultural or financial interest (the music of Shostakovich’s great contemporary, Dmitry Kabalevsky, for example.)

• Finances: the financial resources needed to operate

the Metropolitan Opera, or the Bowdoin International Music Festival, or even the Oratorio Chorale, or the church you attend, give these organizations the power to advertise what they choose to perform. All to the good, we may say, and we are glad they do it. But this

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also means that the music they do not choose does not reach us as easily or directly.

• And, finally, Scholarly Opinion. The written comments of influential scholars may have a lasting influence on what we hear or do not hear. A brief comment of a renowned scholar with whom I studied in 1958 persisted in my mind for roughly fifty years, and during that time I had no use whatsoever for the music of Sir Edward Elgar – I didn’t listen to it, didn’t attend concerts where it was being played, and didn’t purchase a single LP or CD. By a mere chance my opinion changed somewhat radically in about 2008, when a friend in Brunswick gave me a copy of a short choral piece by him; but I remember that I almost didn’t bother to even look at it. That’s just me, you may say, but it is typical of many musicians who, theoretically, ought to know better.

WHY THIS NEGLECT PERSISTS Why do these cultural biases exist? Why should prejudices about the value of music because of nationality, gender, finances, etc, influence our access to music so greatly?

• First, because music is a highly traditional art, in which opinions pro and con are passed down informally from teacher to student, from individual musician to individual musician, from choir director to choir member, from CD producer to CD buyer, from

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newspaper critic to newspaper reader, from concert artist to concertgoer.

• Second, because of the financial systems that control our access to music. The assumption is that listeners prefer music that they are already familiar with, or that they can relate to easily. Thus, people who control concert venues, the recording of performances, and mass media hesitate to program works that might diminish their financial gain.

• But the most important reason is that the classical repertoire is vast and not directly accessible to the general public. Most people cannot access this music by themselves, either in written or audio form, but must rely on various intermediaries for guidance about what to listen to and where to find it.

Now, the truth is that any of us – you as well as me - probably have our own list of neglected masterpieces. There may be pieces that you have discovered by accident, or deliberately sought out, that are less often played than you think they should be. Sometimes we can guess why this is so, while at other times the reasons seem mysterious. So although the pieces we will discuss initially are my choices, I also invite you to mention the names of neglected masterpieces that are favorites of yours, and to ask about them so that the combined wisdom of our whole class might shed some light on the reasons for their neglect.

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BENJAMIN BRITTEN Today, in this first session, we will briefly consider three important composers whose music is to some degree neglected in our 21st century American musical scene. The first composer is Benjamin Britten, a 20th century English composer whose 100th birthday we celebrated in 2013. When he was a little boy, Britten says, his mother told him about the three great composers whose names begin with B – Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. And she said

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that, someday, his name would be added to theirs, and there would be four great B’s: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Britten. Let’s listen to one of Britten’s first major successes, his wonderful, jazz-infused Piano Concerto No. 1of 1938. Here’s a dazzling performance by the 18-year-old English pianist, Benjamin Grosvenor. I’ve chosen this piece because it typifies the best classical music written the 1920s – modern, high-energy, jazz-influenced, and with a showy, brilliant piano part. What’s not to like about a piece like this? PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 WHY NEGLECTED? Why Neglected? When a fine piece of music is neglected, there are often several reasons – several cultural biases – at work to limit its popularity. In the case of Britten’s Piano Concerto, there are at least three:

• Era – 20th century • Nationality - English • Britten not known among pianists as a composer of

piano music OTHER BENJAMIN BRITTEN WORKS There are some other pieces by Benjamin Britten that I recommend to you. You’ll find links to on-line performances on the course website.

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HECTOR BERLIOZ

Let’s move on now to a neglected French composer, Hector Berlioz. Active in the first half of the 19th century, he was a contemporary of Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. Berlioz was as interested in literature as in music, and almost all of his compositions have texts. Best known to us as the composer of the “Symphonie Fantastique,” Berlioz also wrote a mass, songs, and five operas, but no string quartets, instrumental sonatas, or piano music.

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“THE SPECTRE OF THE ROSE” Here is one of his most beautiful songs, “The Specter of the Rose.” This is part of a group of four songs for soprano and orchestra called, “Les Nuits d’été” (”Summer Nights.”) I chose this piece because it has all the hallmarks of early Romantic music: a dramatic, evocative text, a mood of mystery and foreboding so thick you could cut it with a fork, and an outstanding performance by one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century, Dame Janet Baker, here at the height of her vocal powers. THE SPECTRE OF THE ROSE WHY NEGLECTED?

• Era – early 19 Century • Long duration – almost 8 minutes • In a foreign language • Subject matter – extremely romantic and introspective

– not in style today • Requires a virtuoso singer and orchestra

OTHER BERLIOZ WORKS There are some other pieces by Berlioz that I recommend to you. Performance links to all these may be found on our course’s web site.

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LUIGI BOCCHERINI

A third neglected B composer is Luigi Boccherini, an 18th century Italian composer. Boccherini was renowned as a cello virtuoso but composed music of many types. CONCERTO IN B-FLAT MAJOR FOR VIOLONCELLO AND ORCHESTRA A fine example of Boccherini’s music is his Concerto in B-Flat Major for Cello and Orchestra, written in 1770. I chose this piece because it is typical of the best concertos written in the classical era (Boccherini was born 11 years

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after Haydn and 13 years before Mozart). In my opinion, this piece holds its own when compared to the concerts of either of these better-known masters. The performance by cellist Xavier Phillips is first-rate. This music may seem somewhat reserved compared to that of Berlioz, but it’s from an era where the form of music was more important than its emotional content. CONCERTO IN B-FLAT MAJOR WHY NEGLECTED?

• Historical era – Neglected Nationality – Italy, which was slower than England and Germany to embrace the Enlightenment and the new classical style.

• Boccherini’s music has less breath than that of Haydn and Mozart. He’s known primarily for cello performance and cello pieces only.

OTHER PIECES BY BOCCHERINI There are some other excellent pieces by Luigi Boccherini that I recommend. You’ll find performance links to both on our course’s web site.

SUMMARY To summarize what we have done so far:

• Neglect of classical music can affect music of all nationalities, genres, and historical eras

• This neglect is often caused by the interaction of several causes

• The degree of neglect often has nothing to do with the quality of the music or the enjoyment it provides

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WEB RESEARCH: NEGLECTED GEM OF THE WEEK And one last thing – here’s a little bonus for you to listen to –another neglected gem. It’s a 1968 composition, a choral piece by the American Composer Samuel Barber. The title is, “To Be Sung on the Water,” and the text is by the American poet, Louise Bogan. This is a very evocative, unusual sounding piece. Your assignment is to find a performance of this piece on line, study the text, listen to the music, and think about the possible reasons for its neglect. I strongly suggest that you follow the text while listening, at least at first. Here is a link to the text. I find that repeated listening to this piece is rewarding, especially in hearing the text go back and forth between the men’s voices and the women’s voices.