Eugene David ...The One-Minute Pundit |
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Sunday, June 29, 2003
Also in the Times Bernard Holland, in a eulogy for the symphony orchestra, writes what is (with slight adjustments) a eulogy for our culture as well:
As for disappearing audiences, no amount of managing will solve that one. Classical music has only itself to blame. It has indulged the creation of a narcissistic avant-garde speaking in languages that repel the average committed listener in even our most sophisticated American cities. Intelligent, music-loving and eager to learn, such listeners largely understand that true talent and originality must find their own voice. What they do not understand is why the commitment to reach and touch listeners in the seats does not stand at the beginning of the creative process, as it did with Haydn and Mozart. This kind of art-for-art's-sake has much to answer for.
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