Just so I don't get a reputation as the contemporary curmudgeon, I'll point out my post yesterday applies to concerts but for recordings, not as much.
Let the record show that one of my last purchases at Tower Records was a disc of Virgil Thomson symphonies. I found the Third Symphony particularly American and optimistic.
I still need to think about what would entice me to see an equivalent live since modernclassical says Copland's Third is one of his favorites and just today, walking by the California Theatre in San Jose, I noticed Symphony Silicon Valley is playing it in March:
Copland's
landmark Third Symphony, built around his stirring Fanfare for the Common Man, has been called the quintessential American symphony. It closes the concert on a note of warmth and broad humanity.
I may prefer my humanity narrower, though. Or more likely, I need concerts to feel more like an event of the magnitude of the Terry Riley birthday concert, the Doctor Atomic premiere, or Radiohead in Berkeley. The latter was, by my terms, fun and interesting, both before that night via bootlegs of prior shows, during the show on what happened to be a cool and foggy night, and after the show with bootlegs of that night. Mabye SSV needs to covertly seed some Copland MP3s onto the Internet so it feels like I am discovering something rather than just consuming it.
For all its entertainment and creativity, I'm also working out why I think Radiohead's music is not important and yet Copland's is. "Stood the test of time" is not an argument I particularly want to use, at least on this blog.
On the other hand, modernclassical is relieved I didn't consider Charles Ives as the greatest American composer. There's something about Ives not being popular at the time that detracts, although of course I can't make the same argument with Radiohead. I've now come full circle.
So, for my next conundrum, who's music is more important -- Charles Ives or Thom Yorke?
For that matter, who is more distinctive looking, Charles or Thom? And to really get back to where I started, this is my favorite cover photo of Virgil Thomson. The music is fine as well.
recent tracks: harrowdown hill - thom yorke. bassa kele - mamou sidibé. the pond (remembrance) - charles ives. on alligators - charles wuorinen. the boomin' system (the underground mix) - ll cool j. l'exode - ali farka touré.
