The city of Denver proclaimed that the 7th through the 15th of November would be Denver Arts week, a celebration of creative culture in the Mile High City. Visual arts, music, performances and workshops abounded, from Littleton to Englewood and Aurora to Arvada. Many ensembles held performances and among them was the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. On November 8th, 2014, the ensemble graced the Claver Recital Hall at Regis University. At Regis the recital hall regularly hosts professional performers and music educators with the goal of providing their students and community examples of all kinds of music. On this autumn evening an audience of young and old, students and enthusiasts were presented with a fine example of Baroque repertoire, featuring works written by three different Jeans.
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The other morning in class, we raised the question of why our generation, said to be possibly the most influential of the century, has lost interest in the arts and particularly classical music. It makes sense to me and I can speak to that truth; not a single person I regularly interact with would voluntarily listen to a symphony (with the exception of my mother). Why is that? One student suggested technology to be the culprit. She noted that our level of regular sensory stimulation is extreme, and I would venture to guess that no generation before us experienced constant sensory bombardment. This is true about advertisements, film, TV, video games and even music.
There once was a time when the composers were followed and praised as we praise pop stars today. There was a time, but a century ago, when an orchestra served the function of today's Pandora radio. Today we require such a high level of stimulation to be entertained that a symphony does not do the trick for the everyman. So has the role of classical music become that of "art for the highly intelligent and educated"? I could say yes. As someone who enjoys listening to a symphony, a cantata, a piano trio, I admit that that pleasure of listening comes from time spent studying music. For example, knowledge of sonata form makes sense of many symphonies. Knowing the concept of a theme brings further delight upon the listener's discovery of it. An educated listener enjoys classical more, plain and simple. |
Michelle BaileyFull time student, part time dreamer, no-time busybody Archives
March 2015
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