Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
a wee story
So, on 104 and 105 the lads are sitting round telling stories, poking fun at 'la plebe' and at those who don't know things/them (Anton da Lucca and Domenichi?) and don't have good judgement ('chi non gli conosce, e non ha giudizio', 104).
105
O. [Hoste da Reggio?] vi vo' dire un'altra facezia salvatica. Messer Giovaniacopo Buzzino sonando di violone il soprano, come egli fa miracolosamente, un che pareva da qualcosa gli dice nel bel mezzo del sonare: o Signore menate le dita più adagio, che fa brutto vedere menare tanto le dita sopra il manico [neck - fingerboard?]. Ed egli sopportando la insolenzia sua cominciò a sonare senza diminuire; per che il goffo [awkward, clumsy, ungainly] sentendo mancare l'armonia, vergognandosi a dirgli che menasse pur le dita; o più tosto non sapendo che si fusse suono, disse presontuosamente: sonate un poco tutti, da ballare.
B. Chi sonava in compagnia?
O. Messer Lodovico Bosso, il Signor G. Battista, gentil'uomo di Monsignore Stampa, Pre Michele, Pre Bartolomeo, e 'l Doni.
B. Gli fu risposto?
O. Il Doni gli fece rider tutti co'l dirgli: se s'ha a ballare, V.S. segga qui per me, e suoni; ch'io vuo' essere il primo che balli: o se non, sì ve n'andate con dio senza spezzarci la testa; e levatosi in piedì, gli diede l'archetto e la viola, e incominciò a ballare.
M. Or non più di questo, cantiamo, e lasciamo la plebe in suo mal punto; ch'ella si dee fuggire da gli uomini virtuosi come la peste.
Then there's the bit about changing keys, then they sing 'Lassatemi morire' and then read bits of the letter.
Diminuire presumably is to do with not using passagi, not adding diminutions, rather than relating to decrescendo....
105
O. [Hoste da Reggio?] vi vo' dire un'altra facezia salvatica. Messer Giovaniacopo Buzzino sonando di violone il soprano, come egli fa miracolosamente, un che pareva da qualcosa gli dice nel bel mezzo del sonare: o Signore menate le dita più adagio, che fa brutto vedere menare tanto le dita sopra il manico [neck - fingerboard?]. Ed egli sopportando la insolenzia sua cominciò a sonare senza diminuire; per che il goffo [awkward, clumsy, ungainly] sentendo mancare l'armonia, vergognandosi a dirgli che menasse pur le dita; o più tosto non sapendo che si fusse suono, disse presontuosamente: sonate un poco tutti, da ballare.
B. Chi sonava in compagnia?
O. Messer Lodovico Bosso, il Signor G. Battista, gentil'uomo di Monsignore Stampa, Pre Michele, Pre Bartolomeo, e 'l Doni.
B. Gli fu risposto?
O. Il Doni gli fece rider tutti co'l dirgli: se s'ha a ballare, V.S. segga qui per me, e suoni; ch'io vuo' essere il primo che balli: o se non, sì ve n'andate con dio senza spezzarci la testa; e levatosi in piedì, gli diede l'archetto e la viola, e incominciò a ballare.
M. Or non più di questo, cantiamo, e lasciamo la plebe in suo mal punto; ch'ella si dee fuggire da gli uomini virtuosi come la peste.
Then there's the bit about changing keys, then they sing 'Lassatemi morire' and then read bits of the letter.
Diminuire presumably is to do with not using passagi, not adding diminutions, rather than relating to decrescendo....
riccio - lassatemi morire
From the 1969 edition. Does the suprising lack of punctuation suggest that the editor couldn't decide how to interpret the text?
Lassatemi morire
importuni sospir ch'il miser core
mio soccorrete nel maggior dolore.
Se le lagrime mie, se tanta fede,
nanzi a questa crudel d'amor rubella,
o pietade o dolcezza
non mi ponno impetrar, ma sol fierezza,
forse mia cruda stella
avrà per morte ancor degna mercede.
Dunque non più soccorso al miser core,
ma di dolore
lassatemi morire.
Approximate translation
Leave me to die
tiresome/untimely sighs [of] my wretched heart
give succour in the great sadness.
If my tears, if such faith,
before this cruel of love [rebel?],
o pity, o sweetness
[if?] they [my tears?] are not able to [obtain with prayers/supplication], but only violence,
perhaps my cruel fate
will have for death still worthy reward.
Therefore no longer succour my miserable heart,
but from sadness
let me die.
Well, I don't see anything saucy in this text.
Lassatemi morire
importuni sospir ch'il miser core
mio soccorrete nel maggior dolore.
Se le lagrime mie, se tanta fede,
nanzi a questa crudel d'amor rubella,
o pietade o dolcezza
non mi ponno impetrar, ma sol fierezza,
forse mia cruda stella
avrà per morte ancor degna mercede.
Dunque non più soccorso al miser core,
ma di dolore
lassatemi morire.
Approximate translation
Leave me to die
tiresome/untimely sighs [of] my wretched heart
give succour in the great sadness.
If my tears, if such faith,
before this cruel of love [rebel?],
o pity, o sweetness
[if?] they [my tears?] are not able to [obtain with prayers/supplication], but only violence,
perhaps my cruel fate
will have for death still worthy reward.
Therefore no longer succour my miserable heart,
but from sadness
let me die.
Well, I don't see anything saucy in this text.
doni's dialogo
I do need to place an ILL, or maybe I'll just buy a copy as well as order one for the library.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
doni's dialogo
So, I need to look at the music for this again. I'm not sure I actually have a copy of it--time to place an ILL.
I am reproducing the works list from Haar's article on Doni's Dialogo; Haar identifies concordances and poetry sources where possible.
Texts by Doni available online:
Some poems at http://rasta.unipv.it/index.php?page=view_autore&idautore=131.
Given Doni's possible setting of a text by Lodovico Domenichi, the poem by Giovanni Antonio Clario (who?!) beginning 'DOMENICHI, se l'opere del DONI' (16th century edition online) might be of interest. Humanist friendship referenced.
DOMENICHI, se l'opere del DONI
Habbin mai sempre in lor favor le stelle,
E fra l'antiche, et le moderne belle
Piu che di squille il lor grido risuoni:
E t à le vostre il ciel tal gratia doni,
Che non l'habbin contrarie apre, et rubelle;
Quelle con voi vivendo, et voi con quelle;
Ne l'altro l'un mai con l'alma abbandoni.
In abbandon co'l corpo non mettete
(Quatunque indegno) dopò sua partita
Me da la vostra dolce compagnia.
Che in che modo trovar potrei mai via
Di poter sostener mie membra in viva;
S'egli è l'alma di me, voi il corpo sete?
Poem by same Clario to Doni is in same collection.
I am reproducing the works list from Haar's article on Doni's Dialogo; Haar identifies concordances and poetry sources where possible.
- Claudio Veggio, 'Donna per acquetar vostro desire' (Gottifredi).
- Vincenzo Ruffo, 'Ma di chi debbo lamentarmi hai lasso' (Ariosto).
- Pre Maria Riccio, 'Lassatemi morire'.
- This sounds promising on the innuendo/metaphor front.
- This sounds promising on the innuendo/metaphor front.
- Arcadelt, 'S'amante fu giamai di sperar privo' (Luigi Cassola).
- Arcadelt, 'Il bianco e dolce cigno' (Alfonso d'Avalos).
- Laura Macy wrote about this text and Arcadelt's setting; might be interesting to see how Doni's compares. This online translation appears to be Macy's but is not acknowledged.
- Laura Macy wrote about this text and Arcadelt's setting; might be interesting to see how Doni's compares. This online translation appears to be Macy's but is not acknowledged.
- Doni, 'Noi v'abbian donne mille nuov' a dire' (Doni).
- I'm sure Haar is right when he says the setting is terrible and he's not sure whether it's deliberately dreadful in a (failed?) attempt at satire or whether it's just unintentionally incompetent. The first line sounds like it might be a carnival song of sorts and so probably worth closer examination.
- I'm sure Haar is right when he says the setting is terrible and he's not sure whether it's deliberately dreadful in a (failed?) attempt at satire or whether it's just unintentionally incompetent. The first line sounds like it might be a carnival song of sorts and so probably worth closer examination.
- Doni, 'O conservi d'amor che cosi spesso' (Doni).
- Girolamo Parabosco, 'Pur converra ch'i miei martiri amore'.
- Parabosco, 'Giunto m'ha amor fra belle e crude braccia' (Petrarch).
- Paolo Iacopo Palazzo, 'Maledetto sia amore e quel che disse'.
- Tomaso Bargonio, 'Alma mia fiamma e donna' (Pietro Aretino).
- The context for this is probably suggestive even if the text itself is not. Haar references Aretino's Capricciosi e Piacevoli Ragionamenti (Amsterdam: Elzevier, 1660), ii, 3, p.385.
- The context for this is probably suggestive even if the text itself is not. Haar references Aretino's Capricciosi e Piacevoli Ragionamenti (Amsterdam: Elzevier, 1660), ii, 3, p.385.
- Michele Novarese (Doni?), 'Di tre rare eccellenze' (Lodovico Domenichi).
- C. Veggio, 'Madonna il mio dolor è tant' e tale' (Doni).
- Noleth, 'S'io potessi mirar quell'occhi belli'.
- Doni(?), 'Chiaro leggiadro lume che dal cielo' (Doni?).
- Perissone Cambio, 'Deh perchè com'è il vostro al nome mio'.
- Parabosco, 'Nessun visse giamai piu di me lieto' (Petrarch).
- Giacchetto Berchem, Canzone [=sestina], 'Alla dolc'ombra' (Petrarch).
- Anon., 'Ingenium ornavit Pallas, ornavit potentem'.
- Parabosco, 'Cantai mentre ch'io arsi del mio foco'.
- Perissone(?), 'Ave virgo gratiosa' and 'Rubicunda plusquam rosa' (verses from hymns for feast of Immaculate Conception).
- Willaert, 'Beatus Bernardus quasi vas auri solidum' and 'Factus est quasi ignis'.
- P. Cambio, 'Giunto m'ha amor fra belle a crude braccia' (Petrarch).
- Cipriano de Rore, 'Quis tuos presul valeat ritenti pileo' and 'Quin tenes legum'....
- C. Veggio, 'Madonna il mio dolor è tant' e tale' (Doni).
- Arcadelt, 'Amorosette fiore'.
- Jacques Buus, 'À tout jamais d'ung vouloir immuable'.
- C. Veggio, 'Madonna hor che direte' (Doni).
Texts by Doni available online:
Some poems at http://rasta.unipv.it/index.php?page=view_autore&idautore=131.
Given Doni's possible setting of a text by Lodovico Domenichi, the poem by Giovanni Antonio Clario (who?!) beginning 'DOMENICHI, se l'opere del DONI' (16th century edition online) might be of interest. Humanist friendship referenced.
DOMENICHI, se l'opere del DONI
Habbin mai sempre in lor favor le stelle,
E fra l'antiche, et le moderne belle
Piu che di squille il lor grido risuoni:
E t à le vostre il ciel tal gratia doni,
Che non l'habbin contrarie apre, et rubelle;
Quelle con voi vivendo, et voi con quelle;
Ne l'altro l'un mai con l'alma abbandoni.
In abbandon co'l corpo non mettete
(Quatunque indegno) dopò sua partita
Me da la vostra dolce compagnia.
Che in che modo trovar potrei mai via
Di poter sostener mie membra in viva;
S'egli è l'alma di me, voi il corpo sete?
Poem by same Clario to Doni is in same collection.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
eroticism and decorum
This is the beginnings of my eros and euterpe rough work--at the moment, it's more just notes and jottings than a consistent set of ideas or an argument. The draft is due to the editor at the end of August, but I'd like to finish it earlier so that I can send it to one or two friends for comments.
Introduction:
[Will not say the following, but will say something along the lines of what the thesis and the aims of the paper are.]
This paper explores the implications/significance for music-making of the erotic culture of Cinquecento aademies through examining two particular books: Antonfrancesco Doni's dialogo della musica (1545), and Filippo Azzaiolo's il primo libro de villotte alla padoana detto del fiore (1557). Doni's work is quite well-known to musicologists courtesy of articles by Einstein and Haar. My work differs from theirs in that I seek to understand the appeal of, significance of the bawdy and/or innuendo-laden humour that Haar claims is no longer funny (and he might be right there).
Section 1: Let's talk about sex (baby) - I might just use that as a subheading if I can!
This section will be about the previous academic discourse on sexually explicit or euphemistic texts (categories such as bawdy, pornographic, obscene, erotic), about how they are historically contingent--with a wee bit on the recent usage of pornography (the statement that the repeated showings of the collapsing twin towers was somehow porn; torture porn--would love to ref that bloody irritating ad for Tarantino's Hotel II running on the Guardian website just now). Then summary of Talvacchia on decency, onesta/disonesta. Della Casa on decency in language. Ref to Stras on decency in music.
Section 2: needs a title
Doni's dialogo is ostensibly an account of an amiable evening at the Accademia degli Ortolani (Gardeners) of Piacenza. Doni's academic nickname was 'La semenza' (the seed). Not surprisingly one of their icons was Priapus--god of gardens, fertility and famously blessed with a ginormous member. (Boy, I'm glad I'm not subscribing to blog-associated advertising.) The interlocutors/participants are all male at this first evening. Einstein doesn't mention the sexual humour; at least one reviewer also misses it (Denis Arnold); Haar glosses over it in the revised version of his article (i.e. he only mentions the existence of the double meanings)--his earlier published version lacks any acknowledgement of the double entendre. This results in some amazing misreadings, where Haar determinedly reads the literal meaning of passages that only make sense as double entendres. Important things to mention: playfulness, mockery of academic enterprise (even from beyond the grave).
I need to look at the music sung during the evening to see how that works in terms of double entendres or whatever.
Also need to take into account class, social status etc. What other info is there on the Ortolani?
Section 3: needs a title [Costanti, Rucellai and Azzaiolo I]
This will look at only three songs from the collection. Don't think the madrigals will be relevant.
Section 4: Performing decorum and erotics of performance
Conclusion
Introduction:
[Will not say the following, but will say something along the lines of what the thesis and the aims of the paper are.]
This paper explores the implications/significance for music-making of the erotic culture of Cinquecento aademies through examining two particular books: Antonfrancesco Doni's dialogo della musica (1545), and Filippo Azzaiolo's il primo libro de villotte alla padoana detto del fiore (1557). Doni's work is quite well-known to musicologists courtesy of articles by Einstein and Haar. My work differs from theirs in that I seek to understand the appeal of, significance of the bawdy and/or innuendo-laden humour that Haar claims is no longer funny (and he might be right there).
Section 1: Let's talk about sex (baby) - I might just use that as a subheading if I can!
This section will be about the previous academic discourse on sexually explicit or euphemistic texts (categories such as bawdy, pornographic, obscene, erotic), about how they are historically contingent--with a wee bit on the recent usage of pornography (the statement that the repeated showings of the collapsing twin towers was somehow porn; torture porn--would love to ref that bloody irritating ad for Tarantino's Hotel II running on the Guardian website just now). Then summary of Talvacchia on decency, onesta/disonesta. Della Casa on decency in language. Ref to Stras on decency in music.
Section 2: needs a title
Doni's dialogo is ostensibly an account of an amiable evening at the Accademia degli Ortolani (Gardeners) of Piacenza. Doni's academic nickname was 'La semenza' (the seed). Not surprisingly one of their icons was Priapus--god of gardens, fertility and famously blessed with a ginormous member. (Boy, I'm glad I'm not subscribing to blog-associated advertising.) The interlocutors/participants are all male at this first evening. Einstein doesn't mention the sexual humour; at least one reviewer also misses it (Denis Arnold); Haar glosses over it in the revised version of his article (i.e. he only mentions the existence of the double meanings)--his earlier published version lacks any acknowledgement of the double entendre. This results in some amazing misreadings, where Haar determinedly reads the literal meaning of passages that only make sense as double entendres. Important things to mention: playfulness, mockery of academic enterprise (even from beyond the grave).
I need to look at the music sung during the evening to see how that works in terms of double entendres or whatever.
Also need to take into account class, social status etc. What other info is there on the Ortolani?
Section 3: needs a title [Costanti, Rucellai and Azzaiolo I]
This will look at only three songs from the collection. Don't think the madrigals will be relevant.
Section 4: Performing decorum and erotics of performance
Conclusion
Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
random writing thoughts on bodies/music
2210
Well, I'm thinking of my article on bodies in sixteenth century music and I'm thinking about how daily music practice does in fact shape the body. I remember when I practiced singing every day my cheekbones were well defined. So my music practice shaped my face, shaped my physical appearance. Plus there must have been other ways in which my body was shaped--things not so visible to the eye, like stamina, larynx, that vocal agility (if only I could get it back). So, I'm wondering how sixteenth-century musicians bodies were shaped by their practice and in fact whether that is even viable as research questions. Well, I'm sure it's viable, I'm just not sure it's do-able.
But what sources could I look at?
Music treatises - Zarlino, Ganassi, that other guy. These might be places I could look for information on how bodies were instructed in 16th c. But I wonder if I will find anything?
What other possibilities are there?
Bodies come up in motets--there was that one I was looking at a number of weeks ago, Amo Christum.
4 minutes gone and I'm already running out of ideas.
Alessia mentioned to me the idea of the medieval body in relation to flagellation--all about opening the body to society.
Work on vocalising and bodies by not Nina Treadwell, erm. what is her name, must keep writing but her name is on the tip of my tongue Bonnie Gordon, that's it. Bonnie Gordon wrote a great piece on talking back and the ballo delle ingrate in which I seem to remember she discussed the early modern equation between open throat and sexual availability. I wonder whether that is a possible starting point? Or has it been done to death already?
What about the dialogue on Tarquinia Molza that Laurie looked at? There was that interesting comparison between the castrato singer and Molza which I think had something on bodies.
There's that new book/research paper on castrati tjat I must get hold of. Can't remember who that's by right now.
Gosh, this is very disorganised and still only 7 minutes in.
OK, poetry on musicking bodies - hah, that reminds me, I wonder if there's any mileage in that book in relation to early modern italy.
also that business about the book as the body, and the metaphor for how music works--I guess that's a philosophical thing. McClary's idea that when you sing from written music, your body is penetrated (McClary? Gordon deals with this too, I think) and you can't control your physical response. This seems to be denying the performer's agency. Is there any thing in sixteenth-century music theory, poetry, instruction mauals etc that discuss (however obliquely), the performer's agency?
Book as body, held in the hands of friends who in singing take the music into their bodies, first internalising it and then externalising it all sounds pretty cool *but* I don't think really describes what is going on. Surely they are not taking the music into their bodies in the way McClary seems to imply, but rather they are realising the music with their bodies--the music would not exist without their bodies--surely their bodies, the positions of the mouths, the angle of the neck, their stamina and physicality all impact and alter??? no, not alter, because that implies that the music exists already, but all impact upon how the music will sound or is sounded through, by, within??? their bodies. That is a more complicated model and doesn't suggest the passive performer model that McClary slips in to.
Elisabeth Grosz--I need to read that properly this time and consider different intellectual models and feminist theories of bodies.
The obsession with anatomy and the theatre of the body, the display of the body in anatomical diagrams (Talvacchia again) might be of relevance somehow but I wonder how. You see, that's all visual and what I'm really interested in is bodily knowledge, I guess.
Almost out of time and I am certainly out of ideas. I can see I need to spend a lot of time in the library and looking over different primary sources. Zarlino we have, Vicentino we should have.
2225
References:
Silvestro Ganassi, Title in here.
Bonnie Gordon, “Talking Back: The Female Voice in ‘Il ballo delle ingrate,’” Cambridge Opera Journal, 11/1 (1999): 1-30.
Elizabeth Grosz, Volatile Bodies.
Susan McClary, Modal Subjectivities.
Laurie Stras, 'Recording Tarquinia,' Early Music. (I think.)
Bette Talvacchia, Taking Positions.
Nicola Vicentino, Title in here.
Gioseffo Zarlino, Le institutione harmoniche.
Well, I'm thinking of my article on bodies in sixteenth century music and I'm thinking about how daily music practice does in fact shape the body. I remember when I practiced singing every day my cheekbones were well defined. So my music practice shaped my face, shaped my physical appearance. Plus there must have been other ways in which my body was shaped--things not so visible to the eye, like stamina, larynx, that vocal agility (if only I could get it back). So, I'm wondering how sixteenth-century musicians bodies were shaped by their practice and in fact whether that is even viable as research questions. Well, I'm sure it's viable, I'm just not sure it's do-able.
But what sources could I look at?
Music treatises - Zarlino, Ganassi, that other guy. These might be places I could look for information on how bodies were instructed in 16th c. But I wonder if I will find anything?
What other possibilities are there?
Bodies come up in motets--there was that one I was looking at a number of weeks ago, Amo Christum.
4 minutes gone and I'm already running out of ideas.
Alessia mentioned to me the idea of the medieval body in relation to flagellation--all about opening the body to society.
Work on vocalising and bodies by not Nina Treadwell, erm. what is her name, must keep writing but her name is on the tip of my tongue Bonnie Gordon, that's it. Bonnie Gordon wrote a great piece on talking back and the ballo delle ingrate in which I seem to remember she discussed the early modern equation between open throat and sexual availability. I wonder whether that is a possible starting point? Or has it been done to death already?
What about the dialogue on Tarquinia Molza that Laurie looked at? There was that interesting comparison between the castrato singer and Molza which I think had something on bodies.
There's that new book/research paper on castrati tjat I must get hold of. Can't remember who that's by right now.
Gosh, this is very disorganised and still only 7 minutes in.
OK, poetry on musicking bodies - hah, that reminds me, I wonder if there's any mileage in that book in relation to early modern italy.
also that business about the book as the body, and the metaphor for how music works--I guess that's a philosophical thing. McClary's idea that when you sing from written music, your body is penetrated (McClary? Gordon deals with this too, I think) and you can't control your physical response. This seems to be denying the performer's agency. Is there any thing in sixteenth-century music theory, poetry, instruction mauals etc that discuss (however obliquely), the performer's agency?
Book as body, held in the hands of friends who in singing take the music into their bodies, first internalising it and then externalising it all sounds pretty cool *but* I don't think really describes what is going on. Surely they are not taking the music into their bodies in the way McClary seems to imply, but rather they are realising the music with their bodies--the music would not exist without their bodies--surely their bodies, the positions of the mouths, the angle of the neck, their stamina and physicality all impact and alter??? no, not alter, because that implies that the music exists already, but all impact upon how the music will sound or is sounded through, by, within??? their bodies. That is a more complicated model and doesn't suggest the passive performer model that McClary slips in to.
Elisabeth Grosz--I need to read that properly this time and consider different intellectual models and feminist theories of bodies.
The obsession with anatomy and the theatre of the body, the display of the body in anatomical diagrams (Talvacchia again) might be of relevance somehow but I wonder how. You see, that's all visual and what I'm really interested in is bodily knowledge, I guess.
Almost out of time and I am certainly out of ideas. I can see I need to spend a lot of time in the library and looking over different primary sources. Zarlino we have, Vicentino we should have.
2225
References:
Silvestro Ganassi, Title in here.
Bonnie Gordon, “Talking Back: The Female Voice in ‘Il ballo delle ingrate,’” Cambridge Opera Journal, 11/1 (1999): 1-30.
Elizabeth Grosz, Volatile Bodies.
Susan McClary, Modal Subjectivities.
Laurie Stras, 'Recording Tarquinia,' Early Music. (I think.)
Bette Talvacchia, Taking Positions.
Nicola Vicentino, Title in here.
Gioseffo Zarlino, Le institutione harmoniche.
Monday, June 4, 2007
New projects on the go
Since my last post, the conference has happened, I've finished my marking, and I've presented at another conference (all within two weeks of each other). It's been a busy fortnight indeed.
Projects on the go:
1. Revise friendship paper (asap)
2. Paper for Eros collection (by 1 aug)
3. Review of Courtesan's Arts for JSMI (by end June)
4. Review for M&L (by end Sept)
5. Revise Castellino paper to send to Linda, and to Libby (over summer)
6. That dang sprezzatura piece (quite urgent now)
7. Entry on gender in Irish pop for EMIR (negotiate new deadline)
8. Paper on female vocality & dialect song (find out about conf proceedings for Angels & Devils)
9. Conference version of friendship paper (by Aug 11)
10. Decide whether to produce collection of papers from my conf
That'll be enough to keep me going.....
Projects on the go:
1. Revise friendship paper (asap)
2. Paper for Eros collection (by 1 aug)
3. Review of Courtesan's Arts for JSMI (by end June)
4. Review for M&L (by end Sept)
5. Revise Castellino paper to send to Linda, and to Libby (over summer)
6. That dang sprezzatura piece (quite urgent now)
7. Entry on gender in Irish pop for EMIR (negotiate new deadline)
8. Paper on female vocality & dialect song (find out about conf proceedings for Angels & Devils)
9. Conference version of friendship paper (by Aug 11)
10. Decide whether to produce collection of papers from my conf
That'll be enough to keep me going.....
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Conference again
OK, I've done the round table.
Still to do:
Concert.
There's a problem with getting the chamber organ delivered and tuned in time for rehearsal; same issue w/ the harpsichord. I need to think about this some more.
Honan - too many weddings
ORH - not nice enough acoustic
St Vincent's Church poss alternative
I still don't have a script & am running out of time for this.
My Conf Paper.
I'll work on this from 3-5 today.
Keynote speaker's travel and accomm.
Need to contact the travel office again and remind them that I need quote urgently. Can't really make accomm reservation until the travel date is fixed.
Poster is done & ready to circulate.
Registration almost ready. Need quote for buffet lunch. Will go ahead with organising that anyway since I can do this even before venue is absolutely finalized.
Need to decide how many people we can take.
Think that's it for now.
Still to do:
Concert.
There's a problem with getting the chamber organ delivered and tuned in time for rehearsal; same issue w/ the harpsichord. I need to think about this some more.
Honan - too many weddings
ORH - not nice enough acoustic
St Vincent's Church poss alternative
I still don't have a script & am running out of time for this.
My Conf Paper.
I'll work on this from 3-5 today.
Keynote speaker's travel and accomm.
Need to contact the travel office again and remind them that I need quote urgently. Can't really make accomm reservation until the travel date is fixed.
Poster is done & ready to circulate.
Registration almost ready. Need quote for buffet lunch. Will go ahead with organising that anyway since I can do this even before venue is absolutely finalized.
Need to decide how many people we can take.
Think that's it for now.
Friday, April 6, 2007
my conference contributions
Conference to dos are rather longer than I made out.
I need to write & circulate the questions for the round table.
I need to write my own paper.
I need to write blurb to go with Deborah's concert.
So, let's start with the round table. I have Guido Ruggiero (history), Laura Macy (music), and Julia Hairston (literature). Only three. Art history isn't represented, but I guess it's too late now.
Kinds of questions I'm interested in:
1. Discussion over validity of the concept of sexuality/ies for this period. Obviously if same sex preferences and practices are historically contingent then different sex preferences and practices are also historically contingent. The term sexualities implies stable sexual identity but that might be inappropriate for the period. (What's that word, something about time/chronology??)
2. How do literature, art, & music contribute to these historically contingent sexual practices? (Regardless of whether they are sexualities?) We've heard (I hope) a fair bit about how they relate to practices of the time; do they have any regulatory function? How do they complement or undermine or otherwise relate to law?
3. What can the different disciplines learn from eachother? Is there an aspect of sexual practices that is (un)covered by examining literature/art/music, that isn't available any other way?
I need to write & circulate the questions for the round table.
I need to write my own paper.
I need to write blurb to go with Deborah's concert.
So, let's start with the round table. I have Guido Ruggiero (history), Laura Macy (music), and Julia Hairston (literature). Only three. Art history isn't represented, but I guess it's too late now.
Kinds of questions I'm interested in:
1. Discussion over validity of the concept of sexuality/ies for this period. Obviously if same sex preferences and practices are historically contingent then different sex preferences and practices are also historically contingent. The term sexualities implies stable sexual identity but that might be inappropriate for the period. (What's that word, something about time/chronology??)
2. How do literature, art, & music contribute to these historically contingent sexual practices? (Regardless of whether they are sexualities?) We've heard (I hope) a fair bit about how they relate to practices of the time; do they have any regulatory function? How do they complement or undermine or otherwise relate to law?
3. What can the different disciplines learn from eachother? Is there an aspect of sexual practices that is (un)covered by examining literature/art/music, that isn't available any other way?
April
1. My own conference to organize
i Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel--waiting for reply from travel agent; hotel yet to be reserved
ii Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
iii Venue problems for concert - perhaps switch to music dept for Fri or whole event? (Would mean organising lunch(es).)
iv Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
v Registration / concert tickets
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop - negotiate new deadline
4. Holiday. We need a holiday.
5. Write Med & Ren paper
6. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
7. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
8. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
9. Marking marking marking
10. Admin admin admin
11. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
i Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel--waiting for reply from travel agent; hotel yet to be reserved
ii Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
iii Venue problems for concert - perhaps switch to music dept for Fri or whole event? (Would mean organising lunch(es).)
iv Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
v Registration / concert tickets
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop - negotiate new deadline
4. Holiday. We need a holiday.
5. Write Med & Ren paper
6. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
7. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
8. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
9. Marking marking marking
10. Admin admin admin
11. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Another wee update
1. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (confirm date and arrange travel and accommodation)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching - only 4 weeks left to go until this becomes marking marking marking
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
ii Arrange masterclass (
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching - only 4 weeks left to go until this becomes marking marking marking
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Monday, February 19, 2007
A wee update
1. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (confirm date and arrange travel and accommodation)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching - only 4 weeks left to go until this becomes marking marking marking
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
ii Arrange masterclass (
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI now due end of June
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching - only 4 weeks left to go until this becomes marking marking marking
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
another to do
This is rapidly become a to-do list blog. Useful for me and I don't need to carry it around in a notebook.
Very excited about possibilities of putting on a great film & live music event next year (or later this year). Really hope I can make this work.
1. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (confirm date and arrange travel and accommodation)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Very excited about possibilities of putting on a great film & live music event next year (or later this year). Really hope I can make this work.
1. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (confirm date and arrange travel and accommodation)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Chitarrone--contact person RS recommended
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
2. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
3. Get funding to bring 'Fallen' to Ireland.
4. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
5. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
8. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
9. Book review for JSMI
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Sunday, February 4, 2007
To do (cont)
Still too many things to do.
1. Finish chapter for a book.
2. Propose a chapter for another book (eros & euterpe; due end of Jan).
3. Conference paper proposal for FTM9 (due Feb 1) (Didn't do this in the end.)
4. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (waiting for reply)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Richard Sweeney (chitarrone) [waiting for reply]
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
10. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
11. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
12. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
13. Admin admin admin
14. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
4. My own conference to organize
i Book room - ask Carmel?
ii Arrange masterclass (waiting for reply)
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel [waiting for reply]
iv Coffee/tea - ask Carmel
v Registration fee
vi Richard Sweeney (chitarrone) [waiting for reply]
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
viii Honan Chapel for concert
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Body/music seminar
i. Email colleagues
ii. Arrange time/place
iii. First topic???
10. Journal article on sprezzatura to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
11. Book chapter for eros & euterpe will be due in August.
12. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
13. Admin admin admin
14. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
holiday ideas
ok, i know we said we weren't going to economise for a holiday and that's fine. but if we can afford it. . . .
bruges
stockholm for my birthday (built on islands like venice and cork)
mel xx
bruges
stockholm for my birthday (built on islands like venice and cork)
mel xx
Things to do (again)
Too many things to do as per usual.
Current list:
1. Finish chapter for a book. (Well, bar 5 missing page refs, it's done. It's gone to editors anyway.)
2. Propose a chapter for another book (eros & euterpe; due end of Jan).
3. Conference paper proposal for FTM9 (due Feb 1)
4. My own conference to organize
i Book room
ii Arrange masterclass
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel
iv Coffee/tea
v Registration fee
vi Richard Sweeney (chitarrone)
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Journal article to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Current list:
2. Propose a chapter for another book (eros & euterpe; due end of Jan).
3. Conference paper proposal for FTM9 (due Feb 1)
4. My own conference to organize
i Book room
ii Arrange masterclass
iii Suzanne Cusick's travel and hotel
iv Coffee/tea
v Registration fee
vi Richard Sweeney (chitarrone)
vii Press release (talk to UCC PR folk?)
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007 (due date?)
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Journal article to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
eros and euterpe proposal
I'm drafting a proposal for my contribution to Massimo Ossi's edited book of essays on eroticism in music. I'm thinking of combining a chapter from my PhD with my AMS paper. My starting point could be my AMS abstract, but it'd need heavy revision.
Power, Pornography and Entertainment in a Cinquecento Academy
Although controlled by Venice from 1404, mid-cinquecento Vicenza was a city of independent spirit. As in other republican cities in the Veneto, the structure of the academy replaced the court as the space for fostering both culture and identity. The Accademia dei Costanti—a group of Vicentine noblemen whose families harboured anti-Venetian feeling—attempted to regain an element of autonomy by pursuing courtly ideals in their work as in their play. In addition to philosophical discussions and literary pursuits, the academicians made music and played games in an intimate setting reminiscent of the modern gentlemen’s club.
The Costanti’s political sympathies are reflected in a volume of villotte alla padoana that bears their impresa. The collection includes references to treason and exile; however, throughout the political allusions are overshadowed by playful sexual metaphors. The villotte’s bawdy dialect verse challenges our preconceptions of “academic” activites, suggesting private rather than public performance, for entertainment rather than edification. Publication problematizes these works, for sentiments acceptable in private may become significant and unacceptable when placed in public space.
As Paula Findlen has demonstrated, the audience for what we now term “pornography” and “art” was one and the same: the literate, monied élite. The Costanti may have commissioned madrigals from prominent composers, but they were also involved in the anonymous production of obscene songs. Giorgio Vasari’s comments on the erotica of Marcantonio Raimondi, differentiating between onesto and disonesto, provide a framework for a culturally sensitive approach to these songs—which bind politics and pornography for entertainment.
Power, Pornography and Entertainment in a Cinquecento Academy
Although controlled by Venice from 1404, mid-cinquecento Vicenza was a city of independent spirit. As in other republican cities in the Veneto, the structure of the academy replaced the court as the space for fostering both culture and identity. The Accademia dei Costanti—a group of Vicentine noblemen whose families harboured anti-Venetian feeling—attempted to regain an element of autonomy by pursuing courtly ideals in their work as in their play. In addition to philosophical discussions and literary pursuits, the academicians made music and played games in an intimate setting reminiscent of the modern gentlemen’s club.
The Costanti’s political sympathies are reflected in a volume of villotte alla padoana that bears their impresa. The collection includes references to treason and exile; however, throughout the political allusions are overshadowed by playful sexual metaphors. The villotte’s bawdy dialect verse challenges our preconceptions of “academic” activites, suggesting private rather than public performance, for entertainment rather than edification. Publication problematizes these works, for sentiments acceptable in private may become significant and unacceptable when placed in public space.
As Paula Findlen has demonstrated, the audience for what we now term “pornography” and “art” was one and the same: the literate, monied élite. The Costanti may have commissioned madrigals from prominent composers, but they were also involved in the anonymous production of obscene songs. Giorgio Vasari’s comments on the erotica of Marcantonio Raimondi, differentiating between onesto and disonesto, provide a framework for a culturally sensitive approach to these songs—which bind politics and pornography for entertainment.
Rant about classical music
An email list to which I subscribe has recently had an . . . illuminating discussion about racism in classical music, specifically with reference to the VPO. I've been wondering about this issue myself, and thought I'd try my hand at a bit of polemic. My thoughts are influenced by Suzanne Cusick's work, but also by Judith Butler's idea of performative identity (she's talking about gender, but it seems to me to apply to anything). I'm also just (finally) reading Christopher Small's Musicking (Wesleyan UP, 1998) which I find spot on in many respects and a bit dodgy in others.
What follows is what was going to be my post, but I've decided to sit on it for a bit longer.
****
I think one of the problems here is that it's very hard to generalize across entire continents. I do not recognize in William's descriptions the Europe in which I grew up and in which I currently live. It seems to me there are differences between countries, between regions within a given country, between urban and rural areas, and all sorts of other local factors that broad statistics do not account for. The corner of Europe I grew up in bears no resemblance to William's comparative paradise with regard to funding and diversity of audience for classical music. It isn't like Turin, it isn't like Germany, and nor is it like the Met. The ticket prices are outlandishly low (kids prices currently start at 3 pounds to see an OK professional chamber music ensemble playing a programme of Elgar, Ravel, and Takemitsu), but still the audience is largely white, aging, and middle class.
The issues go beyond ticket pricing. I think racism and sexism are absolutely endemic within classical music, and in a sense it's no surprise: the music most valued in the concert hall was largely produced by historically racist, sexist, bourgeois or elite cultures. The whole premise of classical music is based on exclusivity and elitism. It's not surprising that kids in the area I grew up in tend to think classical music is not for them, because historically it hasn't been for farm kids. I'm not excusing it and I do think the whole system should change, but changing the institutionalized racism, sexism, and classism etc does not necessarily mean that suddenly there will be a change in who plays classical music and in the diversity of the audience.
In terms of education, my experience as a music student and a music lecturer in Europe (Scotland, England, the Republic of Ireland) has been that classical music is the music of white, educated, middle and upper classes. In my 12 years in the education system as undergraduate, postgraduate, teaching assistant and lecturer in three different universities in three different countries I have known exactly five students who were not from white, middle class backgrounds. Three of those are white working class students, one is middle class British Asian and the other a Korean American whose parents are both university lecturers. Throughout my university student days, all the music faculty in those different institutions were white. I had one black lecturer when I took a course in anthropology: the only time in my life I had been taught by someone who wasn't white. Regrettably, there is nothing abnormal in Britain and Ireland about my experience. Academic music and classical music in Britain, at least outside London, and in the Irish Republic, is overwhelmingly white.
This is a certainly problem with the institutionalized racism, sexism, classism etc. There should be no barriers, explicit, implicit, structural, or whatever: anyone who wants to should be able to participate in classical music and in music in the academy. I do not take issue with this. Diversity is paramount. What bothers me is that so often the call for diversity within classical music is based upon the assumption that poor people, black people, and other disenfranchised people, need to be able to access classical music because of the intrinsic superiority of classical music to any other kind of music. Apparently white middle class people need to rescue poor, black inner city kids from the horrors of non-classical musics. These disenfranchised people need the transcendental experience that apparently only classical music can offer. In Suzanne Cusick's words, the ideal classical music listening experience is one that is "socially mobile, freed from physical work, seeming to encompass all possibilities in a unified whole . . . a sonic experience of the middle class self." I might add that at least in Britain and Ireland this is the white middle class self. This is the musical subculture of a certain strata of white,
educated, bourgeois people. It is one of many music subcultures--one of many white music subcultures. And in a sense, the idea that it should be universal is a *kind* of cultural colonialism--the idea that everyone should share the values of the white, educated bourgeoisie promulgated by attending the typical classical music performance. At its worst, educational outreach work could be seen as a kind of recruitment into bourgeois whiteness.
There's more to this, then, than racism, sexism, classism. It's about identity, about values. It may be that the barriers are knocked away as they should be, and yet little changes. If this happens, it's nothing necessarily to worry about, just as I'm guessing many wouldn't be worried that, say, in the event of all the institutionalized racism, sexism being removed from hip hop, white Scottish girls didn't move en masse into hip hop. Classical music, in my opinion, needs to become just one among many diverse, valued musics. It's going to have to lose its status as the pinnacle of artistic achievement, and that's going to be painful. But it has to happen. Just as it is hard to realize the oppressive nature of whiteness, or to come to terms with the compromises one has made in developing a gender identity, so it's going to be hard to disentangle the intersecting hierarchies embedded in classical music and within which classical music is embedded.
There is state funding for music in the UK and in Ireland; it could be much better, but there is some money. William is right in some respects: the Royal Opera House has had pots of state funding, and very controversial it was too. The tabloids were up in arms. Prices this season at ROH range from 5 pounds for one of about 45 seats with a compromised view of the stage up to 180 pounds for one of the best 140 seats. Most classical orchestras get some kind of state funding. There are a host of contemporary music ensembles run by young professionals that don't get any state funding at all and can barely survive. But
there is racism and classism and very likely sexism in the way the arts funding is divvied up. In an ideal world there would be more money, and every music organization--whether for bhangra, gamelan, contemporary art music, classical music, opera, whatever--would get a decent share. But that's not what happens. Excellent contemporary musics such as free/open improv that actually do cross class lines in the UK, if not so much race, rarely get state funding at all. National arts funding shows where a state's priorities lie, and at the moment the art forms favored by white educated middle classes get a good proportion of the very limited pot.
There is institutional discrimination elsewhere too. Why are a disproportionate number of black contemporary composers considered jazz musicians and therefore not eligible for royalties for their compositions? Gerry Hemingway and Anthony Davis were part of the same scene: Hemingway had no problems registering as a composer & collecting royalties; Davis eventually had to change sheet music publishers to achieve the same result. That's an example from the US, but I'd be utterly amazed if there weren't similar examples from the UK.
So, yes, all the institutional discrimination should be swept away, but also ideally the new institutions should be totally unrecognizable. Diversity in music terms means equal access, but it also means equal respect for diverse musics
****
Must think about this some more!
What follows is what was going to be my post, but I've decided to sit on it for a bit longer.
****
I think one of the problems here is that it's very hard to generalize across entire continents. I do not recognize in William's descriptions the Europe in which I grew up and in which I currently live. It seems to me there are differences between countries, between regions within a given country, between urban and rural areas, and all sorts of other local factors that broad statistics do not account for. The corner of Europe I grew up in bears no resemblance to William's comparative paradise with regard to funding and diversity of audience for classical music. It isn't like Turin, it isn't like Germany, and nor is it like the Met. The ticket prices are outlandishly low (kids prices currently start at 3 pounds to see an OK professional chamber music ensemble playing a programme of Elgar, Ravel, and Takemitsu), but still the audience is largely white, aging, and middle class.
The issues go beyond ticket pricing. I think racism and sexism are absolutely endemic within classical music, and in a sense it's no surprise: the music most valued in the concert hall was largely produced by historically racist, sexist, bourgeois or elite cultures. The whole premise of classical music is based on exclusivity and elitism. It's not surprising that kids in the area I grew up in tend to think classical music is not for them, because historically it hasn't been for farm kids. I'm not excusing it and I do think the whole system should change, but changing the institutionalized racism, sexism, and classism etc does not necessarily mean that suddenly there will be a change in who plays classical music and in the diversity of the audience.
In terms of education, my experience as a music student and a music lecturer in Europe (Scotland, England, the Republic of Ireland) has been that classical music is the music of white, educated, middle and upper classes. In my 12 years in the education system as undergraduate, postgraduate, teaching assistant and lecturer in three different universities in three different countries I have known exactly five students who were not from white, middle class backgrounds. Three of those are white working class students, one is middle class British Asian and the other a Korean American whose parents are both university lecturers. Throughout my university student days, all the music faculty in those different institutions were white. I had one black lecturer when I took a course in anthropology: the only time in my life I had been taught by someone who wasn't white. Regrettably, there is nothing abnormal in Britain and Ireland about my experience. Academic music and classical music in Britain, at least outside London, and in the Irish Republic, is overwhelmingly white.
This is a certainly problem with the institutionalized racism, sexism, classism etc. There should be no barriers, explicit, implicit, structural, or whatever: anyone who wants to should be able to participate in classical music and in music in the academy. I do not take issue with this. Diversity is paramount. What bothers me is that so often the call for diversity within classical music is based upon the assumption that poor people, black people, and other disenfranchised people, need to be able to access classical music because of the intrinsic superiority of classical music to any other kind of music. Apparently white middle class people need to rescue poor, black inner city kids from the horrors of non-classical musics. These disenfranchised people need the transcendental experience that apparently only classical music can offer. In Suzanne Cusick's words, the ideal classical music listening experience is one that is "socially mobile, freed from physical work, seeming to encompass all possibilities in a unified whole . . . a sonic experience of the middle class self." I might add that at least in Britain and Ireland this is the white middle class self. This is the musical subculture of a certain strata of white,
educated, bourgeois people. It is one of many music subcultures--one of many white music subcultures. And in a sense, the idea that it should be universal is a *kind* of cultural colonialism--the idea that everyone should share the values of the white, educated bourgeoisie promulgated by attending the typical classical music performance. At its worst, educational outreach work could be seen as a kind of recruitment into bourgeois whiteness.
There's more to this, then, than racism, sexism, classism. It's about identity, about values. It may be that the barriers are knocked away as they should be, and yet little changes. If this happens, it's nothing necessarily to worry about, just as I'm guessing many wouldn't be worried that, say, in the event of all the institutionalized racism, sexism being removed from hip hop, white Scottish girls didn't move en masse into hip hop. Classical music, in my opinion, needs to become just one among many diverse, valued musics. It's going to have to lose its status as the pinnacle of artistic achievement, and that's going to be painful. But it has to happen. Just as it is hard to realize the oppressive nature of whiteness, or to come to terms with the compromises one has made in developing a gender identity, so it's going to be hard to disentangle the intersecting hierarchies embedded in classical music and within which classical music is embedded.
There is state funding for music in the UK and in Ireland; it could be much better, but there is some money. William is right in some respects: the Royal Opera House has had pots of state funding, and very controversial it was too. The tabloids were up in arms. Prices this season at ROH range from 5 pounds for one of about 45 seats with a compromised view of the stage up to 180 pounds for one of the best 140 seats. Most classical orchestras get some kind of state funding. There are a host of contemporary music ensembles run by young professionals that don't get any state funding at all and can barely survive. But
there is racism and classism and very likely sexism in the way the arts funding is divvied up. In an ideal world there would be more money, and every music organization--whether for bhangra, gamelan, contemporary art music, classical music, opera, whatever--would get a decent share. But that's not what happens. Excellent contemporary musics such as free/open improv that actually do cross class lines in the UK, if not so much race, rarely get state funding at all. National arts funding shows where a state's priorities lie, and at the moment the art forms favored by white educated middle classes get a good proportion of the very limited pot.
There is institutional discrimination elsewhere too. Why are a disproportionate number of black contemporary composers considered jazz musicians and therefore not eligible for royalties for their compositions? Gerry Hemingway and Anthony Davis were part of the same scene: Hemingway had no problems registering as a composer & collecting royalties; Davis eventually had to change sheet music publishers to achieve the same result. That's an example from the US, but I'd be utterly amazed if there weren't similar examples from the UK.
So, yes, all the institutional discrimination should be swept away, but also ideally the new institutions should be totally unrecognizable. Diversity in music terms means equal access, but it also means equal respect for diverse musics
****
Must think about this some more!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Things to do
Too many things to do as per usual.
Current list:
1. Finish chapter for a book.
2. Propose a chapter for another book (eros & euterpe; due end of Jan).
3. Conference paper proposal for FTM9
4. My own conference to organize
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Journal article to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
Current list:
1. Finish chapter for a book.
2. Propose a chapter for another book (eros & euterpe; due end of Jan).
3. Conference paper proposal for FTM9
4. My own conference to organize
5. Conference proposal for Med&Ren 2007
6. Holiday. We need a holiday.
7. Book review for JSMI
8. Encyclopedia article on gender in Irish pop (what am I going to write?)
9. Journal article to submit by June/July (before well-deserved holiday)
10. Teaching teaching teaching teaching teaching
11. Admin admin admin
12. Think about proposals for AMS 2008!
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