A few somewhat musically related questions for you to ponder on a monday...

1. A couple weeks ago I went to the Dallas Museum of Art to hear Alex Ross (music critic for the New Yorker and one of my personal musical/literary heroes) give a lecture on twentieth-century music. The lecture was primarily a multi-media walk-through of his book on the same topic. Since that night, I have sporadically been pondering the following: A.R. began his lecture by posing the question (and I paraphrase), "Why is the general public typically more accepting of modern art than modern music?" I agree with the basic assumption here - namely, that the masses are more willing to buy a print of Jackson Pollack's than a recording by John Cage. The case of German expressionism is a good (if not overused) example. Many people struggle with Schoenberg's expressionistic dissonances and use of sprechstimme (vocal technique utilizing sung-like speech). In fact, this music often elicits a violent reaction from first-time listeners. In case you are unfamiliar, here is a classic example:

Pierrot lunaire -The Sick Moon - Arnold Schoenberg

Sure, this music is quite strange. But I believe that is the point. It is German expressionism, afterall. Is it really any more bizarre than, say, Schoenberg's (or Kandinsky's) expressionistic paintings??

Arnold Schoenberg, Self-Portrait (1910)


Wassily Kandinsky, Fragment 2 for Composition VII

In his lecture, A.R. left his question unanswered, but it is worth posing again. Personally, I do not think that modern music is too strange or abstract or even more bizarre than modern art. Perhaps our ears are just more sensitive than our eyes? What do you think? Is it harder to listen to something unfamiliar or uncomfortable (or even unattractive) than to watch/see/look at it? And if so, why? And going a bit farther, how does one teach (or perform or introduce) modern art music to the general public without resorting to a trivial description of this music as nothing more than side-show act ("Come one, come all, and listen to the weird German lady sing ugly music!!")?

2. On Wednesday of last week, I attended our local music teachers association's monthly meeting. My thoughts during and after the meeting included (but are not limited to) the following: 1. If I continue teaching piano, will I inevitably begin to wear pleated khakis, piano key hair accessories, and "comfortable" shoes? 2. How can I avoid this? 3. How can I procure a Steinway when the cost of a Steinway piano is roughly equivalent to my annual income? 4. Does anyone know a young, eligible, recession-proof millionaire looking for a wife and willing to buy her a piano as an engagement present? No? Nobody? Hmm...

3. Yesterday, I went to Fort Worth to hear screening recitals for this year's Van Cliburn competition. FYI, there is still time to hear the recitals (for free!) through tomorrow night, Tuesday, Feb. 24. Thoughts: 1. Pedaling is important. Two of the three performers I watched had shockingly poor pedaling skills. 2. Dr. Phillips was right in his Wed. morning lecture to the khaki-pants wearing music teachers of Dallas; it is impossible to have a musical performance when technical skill is lacking and one can tell within the first two minutes of an audition if the performer is going to pass the audition. 3. Prokofiev's Piano Sonata #7 is one of my favorite pieces to hear performed live (this despite the fact (or maybe because?) the second movement begins with the melody of "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"). Questions: 1. Why do old ladies in Fort Worth think that unwrapping a cough drop as slowly as is humanly possible is less distracting than unwrapping said cough drop quickly or just coughing? 2. Why do these same old ladies always insist on unwrapping cough drops as slowly as is humanly possible during the slow movement of a sonata??