Jump to content

Elegy On The Death Of Pluto by Brian Kehlenbach


blm22

Recommended Posts

Guest QcCowboy

"nasty sounds", really?

I suspect unless ALL you listen to is Mozart, it would be unusual for anyone to find this "nasty". It's about as tonal and consonant as it gets.

the only thing I found "nasty" about it was the mediocre intonation of the players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"nasty sounds", really?

I suspect unless ALL you listen to is Mozart, it would be unusual for anyone to find this "nasty". It's about as tonal and consonant as it gets.

the only thing I found "nasty" about it was the mediocre intonation of the players.

I showed my music theory class, and they were like gross, and I told them I love this music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest QcCowboy

Considering most of the people in your theory class are probably in love with the Star Wars soundtrack, what they didn't like about this was probably the instrumentation and the performance quality. Honestly, Star Wars is probably more modern than this.

So I wouldn't jump to generalizations like "a lot of people just look at it as nasty sounds".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering most of the people in your theory class are probably in love with the Star Wars soundtrack, what they didn't like about this was probably the instrumentation and the performance quality. Honestly, Star Wars is probably more modern than this.

So I wouldn't jump to generalizations like "a lot of people just look at it as nasty sounds".

Let's hope so - but one thing I have learned about reception of music is that you can never underestimate people's conservatism. I heard from a relative that several players in the amateur orchestra she was part of actually complained at being made to play the Shostakovich Festive Overture, on the grounds that it was 'too modern'. Even in my university orchestra a violinist refused to play in the Berg Violin Concerto, writing to the conductor '...I hate this music - if it is music'. These are true stories. On this very forum I replied to somebody complaining that 'modern choral music is getting more and more dissonant' by directing him to such works as A Survivor From Warsaw and Pendereki's St Luke Passion. This Elegy could easily have been written 100 years ago - in fact several moments had a hint of Holst (probably intentional) and Vaughan Williams about them. QcCowboy quite rightly wonders what people have been hearing that they find this 'gross' (and I'm sure you're quite aware that there is a far greater universe of sophistication and skill in Mozart than simply writing chords that sound good). My advice to your music theory class is to get rid of the notion that music has to sound 'nice' or 'tonal' to be any good and to open their ears to expressive possibilities. I've been fortunate enough to have a composition teacher who set assignments that forced us to leave our comfort zones, and and I think it's something all good pedagogues should practice. This could involve exercises such as writing for speech choir to focus on rhythmic parameters, or asking students to devise their own scales and modes from which to compose, etc, but the aim should always be to open minds.

And yes, the band in this recording need to work on their tuning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know, it's almost criminal! Hindemith is one of the greatest composers of the last century, and one of the most performed, but few people really appreciate him.

Actually, the reason Hindemith was on the program was because of one of my friends, a fellow violist. I did get us to play Hovhaness, though, and I'm going for Dello Joio and Cowell next year. :D

Yeah, it's funny how musically conservative some people are...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...