On an Overgrown Path praises smaller music:
One thing that I have learnt over the years is that works written for chamber ensembles don't translate well to orchestral forces. (And equally I don't think that a symphony orchestra can play jazz, despite Gershwin, Shostakovich et al). Small is beautiful, and the clarity and precision of single instrumental voices really let's you see straight through to the composer's original intentions.
I really like more intimate concerts, e.g. when I was regularly attending both, I found I preferred the smaller-scale Cabrillo Music Festival orchestra to the San Francisco Symphony. Then I migrated to the even smaller New Century Chamber Orchestra (and then I ran out of time to attend concerts regularly).
"(and then I ran out of time to attend concerts regularly)."
And money, I bet. I'm a long supporter of the SF Contempory Music Players, and I'm also on the board of Other Minds, so I know what it costs to put on a concert these days. But $25 or more per ticket is really starting to hurt. As an economy-saving strategy, I've dissuaded my wife from coming to these concerts ("You aren't going to like it..."), which does have its down sides.
But what's a performing arts group to do these days? Funding has dried up. Venues have raised their rates (I understand that Yerba Buena in S.F. has notified its local resident groups that it will have to cut the discount it has been offering. This is going to hurt. It has put the 2006 OM Festival at risk, for one thing.)
My personal budget these days can only afford at most one concert a month. (More if I can get in for free!)
I think THIS is the greatest threat to the performing arts scene in S.F. We make it now impossible for a younger audience to attend. So you will see more and more events moving to the smaller performance spaces, bars even. (Check out Other Minds BRINK series, the last Wednesday of the month at The Hemlock. http://otherminds.org/shtml/Hemlock.shtml )
Posted by: Richard Friedman | May 01, 2005 at 11:56 AM
BTW, thanks for pointing out http://theovergrownpath.blogspot.com/ .
What an amazing blog!
Posted by: Richard Friedman | May 01, 2005 at 12:23 PM
Uh, where in this post is there anything about the title of the post? In the links? Sigh.
But there's truth in the smaller sizes. I saw Appalachian Spring performed as it was originally composed: a ballet. The Marth Graham Dance Company performed it in DC (Library of Congress, very cheap) and I was in the front row. Center. Holy cow. The music was perfect, the pit right below, and each element of the music had a motion I'd never known of before. Stunning.
Posted by: rothko | May 01, 2005 at 03:09 PM
re: no mention of the work.
I made a deliberate choice to omit mentioning Appalachian Spring in order to encourage visiting the Overgrown Path blog. Admittedly, this may err on the side of being too obscure...
Posted by: Robert Gable | May 01, 2005 at 03:40 PM
Eeek! I reread what I wrote, and it sounds like a dis. I followed the link, and was kind of teasing here. Gee, to think that tone of voice doesn't come through in a blog post! What a surprise! Sorry...
Posted by: rothko | May 01, 2005 at 05:10 PM
No problem. It gives me a chance to admit I feel a little guilt when so many google searchers come to aworks looking for reference material, MP3s, score analysis, historical context, composer motivation etc. for the work I've used in the title and all they find is a blog. On the other hand, maybe it speaks to a dearth of serious resources for this music (compared to say an excellent jazz discography of Weather Report I just found today http://www.binkie.net/wrdisc/index.html).
re: cost of concerts
I saw this morning that Richard Stoltzman was playing in SF tonight. But tickets were $25-50, times two, add in parking and it gets too expensive for an impulse. I need to get back in the habit of attending inexpensive or free concerts at UC Berkeley and Stanford.
Posted by: Robert Gable | May 01, 2005 at 06:52 PM