Re: New Thread: Classical Music Influences on Us

[Richard Zvonar <zvonar@zvonar.com>]

At 12:29 PM -0400 9/25/01, KILLINFO@aol.com wrote:

>I really don't want to start any discussions about what "classical" 
>really means

Good idea. I generally avoid the term unless referring to the likes 
of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. I prefer "art music" or "instrumental 
art music" when speaking generally and when spanning style periods, 
"new music" when speaking to those who know that I'm not talking 
about "pop," and any of several more specific terms when I need to be 
more specific.

Some personal asides:

>Arvo Pärt

I did sound for him at the Cabrillo Music Festival some years back. 
I'd never heard of him before that, but the music director Dennis 
Russell Davies often introduced us to important European artists. 
Pärt was very solemn and monk-like. He had been director of recording 
for Estonian Radio, and he spent much time wandering around the 
festival tent listening to the quality of sound (I was doing some 
reinforcement with surround reverb speakers). Pärt's music was much 
more popular with the audience than the musicians, however, due to 
the minimalism of some of the pieces.


>John Adams

I got to know John during my years in the Bay Area, and in fact he's 
married to one of my college chums. He's a very thoughtful and warm 
person. He's also very organized and disciplined about his composing, 
retreating to his studio every morning and emerging at the end of his 
working day to spend evening family time. He spent one year as 
interim director of the Cabrillo Festival, in the summer following 
the Gulf War. His programming included several performances of Arabic 
music and dance, and many other works were solemn memorials. The 
musicians jokingly referred to that summer as the "Festival o' Death."


>Bartók

I was walking down a street in New York a few years back and out of 
the corner of my eye I noticed a plaque on the front of an otherwise 
undistinguished apartment building. This proved to be a memorial to 
Bartók, who had spent the last years of his life living there in 
poverty.


>Lou Harrison

Lou lives in Aptos, California, just above the campus of Cabrillo 
College. He was one of the founders of the Cabrillo Music Festival 
and is a permanent composer in residence. He's a warm and gracious 
person, and a man of diverse interests and boundless energy (despite 
being 84). In his youth he was a dancer; he studied composition with 
Henry Cowell; he was a close friend and collaborator of John Cage, 
but they drifted apart when Cage embraced indeterminacy (Lou: "I'd 
rather chance a choice than choose a chance."); he and his late 
partner Bill Colvig have been mainstay of the American gamelan 
movement and build several sets of instruments. Much of Lou's music 
is now available, in part due to the efforts of Dennis Davies.


>Steve Reich

"Come Out" was one of those pieces of sound art that permanently 
changed the way I hear. I saw Reich's "The Cave" several years ago in 
New York. This work has particular importance today, dealing as it 
does with the common heritage and divergence of the Muslim and Jewish 
faiths.


>Igor Stravinski

I always enjoyed his setting of "The Owl and the Pussycat"


>Oliver Messiaen

"Quatuor" is a powerful piece, particularly when one considers its 
origin. His musical language is unique, and his influence on 
post-WWII music profound (he was a teacher of both Boulez and 
Stockhausen).




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Richard Zvonar, PhD
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