Musical Chairs
Sit up, arms folded, and pay attention. Today's topic: musical demographics! Bet you never heard of that one? Actually, it's musical chairs – we inadvertently played it at our massive music party called 'Listen Here', a four day bonanza of seven free events. Some interesting demographics occurred or, to put it in the vernacular, "Whose bum ended up on which seat?" This open house weekend was a wow. Lots turned up and had lots of fun. Lots of buzz. But, who turned up to what, and why? If you were there, contact us, via questionnaire, BlogSpot or pigeon post.
The context
The RSNO had run a popular summer prom season for decades. But it's been sagging in recent years, and so it was binned. Last Thursday they had their own new fun type experimental bash, and a good bunch of new faces turned up.....and then they're doing it with Elvis Costello. On the same day we had the first do of our open weekend, a free performance of Beethoven 8 and the inimitable Christian Tetzlaff playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Lots of new faces appeared, very few of our regulars. Were they stateless wanderers from the defunct RSNO proms? On Friday we did 'Classics Unwrapped', popular extracts showcasing three very young Scottish soloists. All tickets for Thursday and Friday went. Then on Saturday we did a 'Here and Now', cutting edge Radio Three stuff, consisting of three (yes three) brand new violin concertos. By squeaky gate standards, a very good turnout, though not our usuals. It was free, but would a huge number stomp out, having not realised what was on the menu? Three or four left at the interval. The violin and piano recital on Friday morning was packed, by any chamber music standards. Our 'if-you-can-hold-it-bring-it-and-play-it', Play It Again, session on Saturday morning was the best yet (there was a sea of 'cellists). All the ´óÏó´«Ã½ groups have done this Play It Again programme all over the UK, and ours is the only one that seems to have taken root. Lastly, the two family shows, Our Planet, on Sunday afternoon were equally well attended, with lots and lots of children.
The observations
Way back in the Jurassic period, when I came to Glasgow, The SNO Proms were a major feature. The old Kelvin hall was full for a fortnight, you couldn't get tickets, and, if there was actually room to sit on the floor, the hard concrete focused your attention – this whole listening experience being enriched by the reek of elephant pee, deeply engrained in the building from the Christmas circus. The programmes were far reaching: slam bang Tchaikovsky nights, yes, but modern music, first performances as well ..... eek! We, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ SSO, always had a guest appearance. It wasn't just Gibson's ample charisma that created such a good season, was it? Thousands of you must have really had fun with the music.
That's it. There's got to be fun. And I'm not going tell anyone what that fun 'should' be.
In our Here And Now programme, oor ain Elizabeth Layton gave an inspiring airing of Oliver Knussen's concerto, and Tetzlaff played Jörg Widman's concerto, even more inimitably than the Brahms on Thursday. As I mentioned, you didn't all stomp out. It struck me, as things do, that the sound world of both these concertos was very much the same as the Berg violin concerto. A struggling hero playing an intense solo line, emotional evisceration with very little let up, except in the last movement of the Knussen. The solo line in Scena by Harvey, played by Liz, was similarly operatic, though in a sound world more like Messaien's. The next step, as I suggested in my last blog, is to think one stage beyond the immediate sound world, and tune into the person behind the music. What is being said? Well, and don't be shocked, is it the same in these pieces as in the Brahms? Are the Knussen and Widman ever going to be as popular as the Berg, let alone the Brahms? Obviously not? So, what are we all going to be listening to in 50 years, if we can't get past the 150 year classical and romantic stratum? If you heard some of the China Focus programmes you'll have heard deep discussions about this. They've got 80M kids learning Bach two part inventions. Who knows?
Your homework
So you, you musical psephologists, you tell us what folk are going to come to listen to, or participate in, in future. What should music managers here, or there in China, be talking about? Most important, what do you really find to be fun?
Anthony
