What is "Western Music"

By -
Julian Lloyd Webber posts a tirade against the use of "Western" when associated with Classical music and he's spot on in terms of justifiable iritation with the term. He talks about how Eastern (namely Russian) composers are included in the "Western" music world. But he misses out on all the music by composers like Claude Debussy, Béla Bartók and Olivier Messiaen who incorporated World music elements from Gamelans to congas into their compositions. Mr Webber speaks of the programs in China and Venezuela bringing "Western" music to thousands of children, but misses out on Tan Dun who comes in a very "Western" style, and is thoroughly Chinese. Or Stewart Wallace ("The Bonesetter's Daughter") and Judith Weir ("Night at the Chinese Opera") who incorporate Chinese style music into their operas and yet are thoroughly Western (American and British repectively).

We have a love of labeling to the point of distraction. We like to categorise everything. Unfortunately, in music, this only serves to create pre-conceptions that are not at all accurate. "Western" classical music is much more diverse than the term implies, much more wide reaching and far more universally capable than the credit it's given. Sure, there are other types of music, but given time, classical music composers will eventually take these types on as well. Perhaps a better name (if we need to have one) would be Collectively Classical music - music that is Classic (stands the test of time) and yet a collection of many different types and influences.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more