Classical music as 'protest music'

[Wheels of Cheese]

I've directed people to this thread via my website. So be on your best behaviour people.

http://www.peter-salmon.co.uk/petersalmon/

[heliocentric]

does the very existence of such music attack, let it be said, the whole smug edifice of contemporary capitalism. A bit? A little bit?

In my opinion the most important thing contemporary composers have to offer the world is an example of how free the imagination and the intellect can be, as opposed to music which is constrained by tradition or genre or commercial considerations (note: extending and/or radicalising a tradition is not the same thing as being constrained by it). Unfortunately many contemporary composers behave as if what they do is hedged around by rules and regulations... but Pauline Oliveros obviously isn't one of those. So yes, in answer to your question, but it also depends on people hearing and understanding and questioning and using their own imaginations.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

In my opinion the most important thing contemporary composers have to offer the world is an example of how free the imagination and the intellect can be, as opposed to music which is constrained by tradition or genre or commercial considerations (note: extending and/or radicalising a tradition is not the same thing as being constrained by it).

I would only add that the same distinctions can be made using "performers" instead of/as well as "composers" and that this doesn't just apply to Musicians from the "Classical" Music traditions.

[heliocentric]

I would only add that the same distinctions can be made using "performers" instead of/as well as "composers" and that this doesn't just apply to Musicians from the "Classical" Music traditions.

Indeed so. By "composers" I had in mind creative musicians in general. The "imaginative freedom" idea is generally my answer to the common question of what relevance or function a music might have if it doesn't gather a large audience or make money, but it seemed to fit also with WoC's comment about Oliveros. What we call "contemporary music" for want of a more precise term is in a sense a tiny part of the musical landscape, but in another sense a keyhole through which a much larger landscape can be seen, it's a music which bears witness to infinite possibilities (or it has the potential to be) and in that sense at least can be radical in the way WoC describes.