Originally posted by smittims
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Jenkins, Karl
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It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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Originally posted by french frank View Post
Nor consider the fact that of course choirs will enjoy/want to sing (and commission) music which is within their own capabilities, limited or extensive, to perform well. It's like books. More people buy, read and enjoy 'an easy read' than something which they have to grapple with. No need for either side to be defensive about their preferences.Last edited by Ein Heldenleben; 14-02-24, 18:32.
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Originally posted by french frank View PostYes, thanks for your thoughts, Ian. I thought I had misidentified you, but apparently not! Just been reading an article/interview with KJ. He does, of course, get commissions, if not (yet) from R3.To quote him:
"I always wanted to be in music. Composing came later. I did O-level and A-level music, and then on to the University of Wales. But then classical composition in those times meant producing difficult, dissonant music that would never be performed and never be accepted. It’s still the case to some degree and in certain areas of the classical world — it’s snobbish, I suppose. If you wrote music that reached out and touched people, it was frowned on.
I don’t see any point in being a composer if you don’t communicate with people. Some classical music is endorsed and cherished by critics and cultural bodies, but I’d rather be what I am, reaching people. I’m not interested in writing music which is only ever performed once to a very few people, to lukewarm applause (“critical acclaim” is the phrase), and never played again."
He has found a way to success and popular recognition on a significant scale, but that quote sounds like a chip on the shoulder or someone who still feels insecure.
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Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
He has found a way to success and popular recognition on a significant scale, but that quote sounds like a chip on the shoulder or someone who still feels insecure.
In Covid times I joined an online choir which "performed" a number of his pieces. KJ was integral to the Zoom rehearsals and came across as a sincere, genuine and most interesting man.
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Originally posted by french frank View Post
Nor consider the fact that of course choirs will enjoy/want to sing (and commission) music which is within their own capabilities, limited or extensive, to perform well. It's like books. More people buy, read and enjoy 'an easy read' than something which they have to grapple with. No need for either side to be defensive about their preferences.
Another factor which hasn't been mentioned I think is that of, to put it bluntly, bums on seats. It's not just a question of whether the vocal forces are willing and able to perform modern/specially commissioned, or unfamiliar or more challenging repertoire(which may or may not be "modern"), if ticket sales don't bring enough return. That's something the choir I sing with has to constantly bear in mind, particularly in recent years, and it can be frustrating, but there is only so much that can be done given geographic and demographic constraints!
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Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
Au contraire, I read that quote as someone who is perfectly comfortable with himself and what he produces.
Originally posted by Old Grumpy View PostIt may not please or delight everyone, but certainly brings a lot of pleasure to many.that make me want to struggle a bit.
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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Originally posted by french frank View Post
He can afford to be comfortable with himself, and at least he's honest in saying he can't see the point in [I paraphrase] composing music that doesn't fit his view of what a composer should try to produce.
Exactly. As do the novels of Barbara Cartland. Horses for courses. Probably just my masochistic tendenciesthat make me want to struggle a bit.
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Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
Fair enough, FF, but I can assure you that I have no desire to read the novels of Barbara CartlandFar be it from my mind the thought thereof! I think our tastes and preferences are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Disparate bits all stuck together to form the individual. At one extreme there are those who want everything to be 'dissonant and difficult' at the other those who want nothing but mind candy. Most people, I suppose are just balanced ...
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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Originally posted by Maclintick View Post
I am now intrigued as to whether there is a significant contemporary readership for Dame Barbara's oeuvre....It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
Fair enough, FF, but I can assure you that I have no desire to read the novels of Barbara Cartland
It was an interesting and sometimes quite amusing part of the job, and certainly better than shelving or trying to sort out the hundreds of Patels who all apparently lived in the same few houses and had all the Fortran and Cobol manuals on effectively permanent loan.
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Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
Au contraire, I read that quote as someone who is perfectly comfortable with himself and what he produces. It may not please or delight everyone, but certainly brings a lot of pleasure to many.
In Covid times I joined an online choir which "performed" a number of his pieces. KJ was integral to the Zoom rehearsals and came across as a sincere, genuine and most interesting man.
Regarding Karl Jenkins, Sarah Walker has reported a favourable reaction from many listeners to the Benedictus from The Armed Man. I don't know whether these listeners were all pre-existing admirers of KJ's works, but I suppose it's possible that some may have discovered them thanks to CotW. Whether or not he was 'entitled' to have his compositions featured in a week of programmes is open to discussion, but it may be worth pointing out that some months ago the chosen subject was a film composer (Rachel Portman?) whose stature is, at least to judge from what I heard, not on a par with that of Karl Jenkins, and it so happens that apparently next Sunday is going to be Cinema Day On Radio 3, to tie in with the Oscars. Another straw in the wind indicating a shift in the 'feel' of Radio 3?
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