Tchaikovsky - time to rehabilitate?

[cloughie]

Hopefully, common sense will prevail in time and Tchaikovsky will be back. May I suggest the Symphony No 2 to start with and the 1812 Overture as a lesson in what happens to a tyrant in that part of the world?

Sym 2 is the Kyiv Symphony in name!

[ChandlersFord]

I can see why 1812 might be thought crass cancelling any other Tchaikovsky silly.

Very wrong, though, considering it was written to commemorate a successful effort to REPEL an invasion.

[Nick Armstrong]

Cardiff Philharmonic management have cancelled their forthcoming Tchaikovsky concert saying it would be inappropriate to go ahead with it in the current situation. It’s scary that grown adults can be capable of this type of thinking.

Then again, there is perhaps slightly more context than initial reports tended to indicate…

[richardfinegold]

Then again, there is perhaps slightly more context than initial reports tended to indicate…

It’s still a stupid decision.
The 1812 celebrates the victory over an invading Army. Can’t think of anything more appropriate to boost the spirits of the plucky Ukrainians. March Slave was celebrating Pan Slavism, specifically in that case the cause of the Serbians. A little more feeling of Pan Slavism would be welcome in Putins cold heart before he blows up another apartment building. And the Symphony, whatever its title, shows a love of Ukrainian folk music and by extension all of Ukraine. A little more of that would be welcome in the Kremlin.
All of the above doesn’t really matter. The composer died about 130 years ago. Is he to be held responsible for a Political Landscape that he couldn’t possibly have envisioned?

German Music, including Beethoven, was banned in the States after we entered WWI. When the next conflagration arrived that earlier decision was regretted and Beethoven’s music, particularly the opening of the Fifth Symphony, was coopted into the War effort as a code for Victory.
If I recall, didn’t the British Royal Family bow to public opinion in WWI and morph from Hanoverians to Windsorites? And perhaps my country was to preoccupied with incarcerating Americans of Japanese descent in WWII to care about which music to ban

[mahlerfan]

Then again, there is perhaps slightly more context than initial reports tended to indicate…

The fact that they have thought about it more deeply than initial reports indicate, makes it even scarier.

Too many obvious errors in thinking to comment on them all - one example being, if an orchestra member has family connections with Ukraine, as a one-off, he/she should be offered the option of not having to participate (on full pay).

A crass decision, whatever the contextualisation.




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[mahlerfan]

It’s still a stupid decision.
The 1812 celebrates the victory over an invading Army. Can’t think of anything more appropriate to boost the spirits of the plucky Ukrainians.

Absolutely! What an ironic poke in the eye the 1812 Overture is for a despot imperialist like Putin.

In fact, there’s an argument for programming the 1812 wherever possible!

[Nick Armstrong]

Fair points, well-made!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sadly, this is not an isolated case. I’m in a choir that has just dumped some Rachmaninov sacred works, scheduled for a forthcoming concert. The choir was consulted about this, and not one member spoke in favour of the ban. Yet it has gone ahead anyway.

[cloughie]

Sadly, this is not an isolated case. I’m in a choir that has just dumped some Rachmaninov sacred works, scheduled for a forthcoming concert. The choir was consulted about this, and not one member spoke in favour of the ban. Yet it has gone ahead anyway.

Considering how much time Rachmaninov spent in the USA this decision seems rather irrational.

https://www.stephenhicks.org/2018/04/30/rachmaninoff-upon-becoming-an-american-citizen/

[Bryn]

Considering how much time Rachmaninov spent in the USA this decision seems rather irrational.

https://www.stephenhicks.org/2018/04...rican-citizen/

Perhaps the decision was based more on his family's military history. Not that I agree with the decision. The situation regarding Tchaikovsky is even more counterproductive. As an oppressed gay man who celebrated Ukrainian musical traditions, he seems to represent the very antithesis of Putin's outlook.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Considering how much time Rachmaninov spent in the USA this decision seems rather irrational.

https://www.stephenhicks.org/2018/04...rican-citizen/

Yes. That point was made, accepted and agreed, but was obviously overridden by someone.

[Dave2002]

It’s still a stupid decision.

GIven the very specific context I'm not sure you are right. However I am still mulling over that.

Is it any more stupid than current music performances which now start with Ukrainian music, or the Ukrainian national anthem?

I would very much prefer that music and politics were kept separate - or at least I write that - but then that was obviously not true for some composers - so maybe I have to rethink that as well.

It is very wrong to tar the people of any country with the same brushes as their (in some cases) despotic leaders - but how to do that in the present climate?

[visualnickmos]

Cardiff Philharmonic management have cancelled their forthcoming Tchaikovsky concert saying it would be inappropriate to go ahead with it in the current situation. It’s scary that grown adults can be capable of this type of thinking.

Yes. This is quite ridiculous. Did Britain side-line Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann etc during WW2? I don't think so.

[cat]

Yes. This is quite ridiculous. Did Britain side-line Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann etc during WW2? I don't think so.

Something similar though, and from the BBC:

Daily Herald, London 10th Dec 1940. p2.
Banned Choir
IN home policy, too, the B.B.C. has been doing some queer things. One was the banning of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir from future broadcasts because its conductor, Sir Hugh Roberton, is a declared pacifist. The "Daily Herald" has read some of Sir Hugh's pacifist articles. It thinks his arguments are fantastic. But what has that to do with his conducting, and with the British public's delight in hearing good music sung by a good choir? Surely, by this ban, the B.B.C. has set foot perilously in the path of reaction. It would be scarcely more foolish to ban the works of Beethoven as "German propaganda."

[Ein Heldenleben]

Sadly, this is not an isolated case. I’m in a choir that has just dumped some Rachmaninov sacred works, scheduled for a forthcoming concert. The choir was consulted about this, and not one member spoke in favour of the ban. Yet it has gone ahead anyway.

That is absolutely ridiculous. He was an exile from Soviet Russia who had his works banned there (as I’m sure you know).
I’m playing his Eflat prelude in protest