A survey by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has revealed huge gender and race inequalities in the granting of music commissions and degrees.
The survey, conducted by Natalie Bleicher , is based on works submitted to the 2015 British Composer Awards.
It shows that:
only 6% of commissioned composers are Black or Minority Ethnic (BAME), against their 14% share of the UK population;
just 21% of commissioned composers are female;
The percentage of women decreases at each level of study –
While 39% of Bachelor’s degrees are won by women, only 14% of PhDs are female.
Full results will be published in Basca’s house magazine later this month.
The pianist Ivan Ilic has reconstructed a 1970 interview Morton Feldman gave in Paris to French art critic Françoise Esselier. It is full of what Feldman calls ‘anecdotes’ which are more like epigrams.
For instance:
One day Boulez said to John Cage on the subject of Winter Music (1957), ‘It’s very interesting, John. Now you have to do something with it’. And I say, that for me, it’s not what happens in a work of art that makes it interesting, it’s the fact that you’ve never heard anything like it.
There are three separate mind-worlds at work in that story, each pulling music in a different direction. How often do you find that? Boulez is the functional one, Feldman the aesthetic and Cage … no-one knew what he was after.
Another example:
I once had a long conversation about a similar subject with John Cage. I told him, ‘How can you be interested in Duchamp? He does exactly the opposite of what you do’. Most people don’t realize it, but Duchamp and Cage are complete opposites. Duchamp and Boulez are similar. Let’s just say that Boulez is the epitome of the intellectual approach, with a process that is as clear as Duchamp’s, for example. But what John Cage did, and what I have done, is to extract music from the conceptual domain and to place it in the purely physiological sensation of sound, separated from this conceptual cause and effect.
Fascinating ideas. Read the full interview here. Ivan has artfully reconstructed Feldman’s original English from the published French text.
Emily Davis, concertmaster of the European Union Youth Orchestra which faces closure after the EU ended its funding, has asked Slipped Disc to publish a personal letter to the commissioner who is killing the orchestra.
Dear Mr Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,
In reaction to the news of EUYO’s forced closure due to lack of funding, I am writing to you with my concerns.
I wanted to tell you about one of the most exhilarating and defining moments of my life as a musician. It was when I began my EUYO journey on the orchestra’s 2013 Summer Tour, and I performed for the first time at the historically eminent Berlin Konzerthaus. The programme was to begin with an unconducted rendition of Ravel’s Bolero, the clock work stability held together by our superb snare-drum player. He sat centrally, glueing us together as we built up the mechanical intensity; It was therefore a haunting moment when suddenly the support fell out from beneath, and we saw him faint off his chair. He was taken off stage, and after some time we continued with the concert, fuelled by a protective concern for each other. Word came through that he had recovered and despite nursing a slight arm injury, was determined to pick up where he had left off.
We finished the concert starting mid Bolero, feeling emotionally charged and determined. Inspired by our friend we threw our entire beings into playing; at one point we stood up together and discarded our chairs. We laughed and moved around the stage, thrilled by the freedom we felt. Ravel’s music soared off the page in a way I hadn’t known before, and I looked around and felt deeply moved by the bond between my peers. The audience were exhilarated and the electricity in the air was palpable. This moment went right to my core as I realised that music really could transcend all other being, and uplift you to a point where there are no further words to describe the feeling. This was the first time I remember experiencing such a powerful concert, but now on the verge of my sixth EUYO tour, I can say there have been many more since.
The EUYO isn’t an orchestra that can be simply defined as a project. It is an ongoing, living and breathing being that is run with hard working passion to be a musical institution for our continent. The more conversations I have with other top level musicians who are now based around the world, I realise that the EUYO is a fundamental reason why many wanted to dedicate their life to music – touched by the infectious “EUYO spirit”. Growing up as a young violinist, I looked to the orchestra with great aspirations; The concept of travelling with such a calibre of musicians and representing my country was exciting and fascinating. With the taste of troubling times in the air for the world of music, it disturbs me to think that even this important first step will now cease to exist.
The lessons I have learnt with the orchestra don’t end with world class musical training. From my Spanish friends I have learnt to rejoice in song. From the Dutch, their “say it like it is” honesty. From the the Romanians, I am inspired by their bursts of spontaneous folk music and lack of inhibitions. This unique combination of cultural personality and extreme talent has now been moving audiences worldwide for 40 years, in a tradition we are all so proud of. There is always a strong reaction from our audiences, when at the close of every performance we demonstrate our love and respect for each other with hug, symbolising the unity between us all. The orchestra strives to reach out to audiences and communities across the globe, and share this youthful spirit and musical language that we are lucky enough to have. Such a multi cultural hub of talent and energy surely delivers the strongest message from the EU that could possibly be said, resounding in the EU motto, “United in Diversity”.
I urge you to reconsider the funding actions from the last two years, as we cannot afford to disregard the future generations of European musicians. Such a group cannot be confined within the brackets of a “project”. It is unacceptable that bureaucracy should interfere with something honest and true – as we witness increasing divisions and xenophobia rising in nations world wide, make use of our voice and our message. Champion us and celebrate us. Don’t silence us.
Yours sincerely,
Emily Davis
EUYO Concertmaster for 2016 Summer Tour
Violinist from the UK
The prolific Bernard van Beurden has left us, aged 82.
He wrote for all ensemble forms, as well as music theatre and a small body of works for accordion.
Students from the Curtis Institute were boarding a plane at Philadelphia this weekend at the start of a tour of Spain when a Lufthansa official refused to take a cello on board.
The cellist, Zach, had to take another plane – American Airlines, no problem with cello – but he could only get a flight to London and spent many hours trying to connect up with the others in Valencia.
The first Curtis on Tour performance is May 18 in Alicante.
Curtis have confirmed that ‘there were indeed difficulties with a cello’ and are looking into the incident.
Lufthansa have offered no excuses, yet.
UPDATE: We have some more details.
Apparently, at Philadelphia airport, Lufthansa staff gave a variety of reasons why the cello ticket could not be issued to the group. First that a boarding pass could not be printed in their system, then that the ticket was not paid for.
Despite a confirmation from Curtis’s travel agent that the ticket was paid for and a ticket number, Lufthansa was unable to resolve the problem within 2 hours, and the flight departed without the cello or cellist on board. The flight was booked through a an experienced classical-music travel agent who has booked many cello tickets down the years. She has never seen anything like this before.
Lufthansa owe Curtis an apology.
Reviews for Bartoli’s West Side Story at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival have been overwhelmingly unkind.
The Kurier’s headline: Bartoli singt Musical: Leider nur somehow (Bartoli sings a musical, sadly just somehow)
ClassicalMusicNews.ru reports the death of Sviatoslav Luther, former principal conductor of the State Symphony of St Petersburg.
There are conflicting reports as to the cause of death. A note said: ‘For my death I wish no-one to be blamed.’
He leaves a young daughter, whom he was raising as a lone parent. She was with his mother at the time.
A member of a well-known musical family, Luther studied with Ilya Musin, was an assistant to Valery Gergiev and founded a training orchestra for students.
He was artistic director of St.Petersburg’s Rachmaninov Society.
Eternal rest.
She was the beating heart of the Atlanta Symphony for 71 years, from when she was still at school.
Jane Little, whom Slipped Disc first named as the world’s longest-serving player, would turn up to play bass as a schoolgirl, before the orchestra was fully formed.
She was still playing in concert on Sunday.
A section colleague tells us: She collapsed onstage today during the encore to an afternoon pops concert, Broadway’s Golden Age. Fittingly, the encore during which she lost consciousness was the Berlin tune “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun.
Jane Little died later that day in Atlanta at the age of 87. She was adored by musicians and audience alike.
Little was Assistant Principal Bass Emeritus in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She celebrated her 87th birthday on Feb. 2, 2016, and on Feb. 4, 2016, she performed with the Orchestra, marking 71 years to the day of her first concert held on Feb. 4, 1945, securing the Guinness World Record for longest professional tenure with a single orchestra. The Orchestra’s application for Jane Little’s record is under review pending final approval.
Little started her musical career in 1945 as a founding member of the original Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, the forerunner of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She joined after two years of studying bass in high school and has since played under all four of the Orchestra’s music directors, – Henry Sopkin, Robert Shaw, Yoel Levi and Robert Spano, as well as guest conductors including Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Pierre Monteux, Leopold Stokowski, Sir John Barbirolli and James Levine, among others.
