........ i may be gone some time

[Globaltruth]

Finding this Britten business fascinating - it seems there is a case for writing Britten off completely as a total failure who might have been more gainfully employed sewing mailbags:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NvhhZG4IBA

Myself, I'm just a humble Jazzer, who tends to follow instincts and feelings when assessing music - how simplistic!

The picture I have of BB, which comes out in this video link, is that of a childhood musical prodigy, who was saddled immediately, by a musical establishment desperately seeking a genius to rival Mozart, etc, with an image to strive for, and a very strict work regime throughout his childhood and youth in order to produce the goods. His personality seems to be locked into this golden growing-up period.

But having achieved a 20th Century musical genius, the musical establishment was now free to trumpet his music to the world in general The Britten Composerthon, and the missing Jazz programmes, are the latest manifestaton of this.

if there was LIKE button on this forum, this post would get it. Then again, if there was a LIKE button, I probably wouldn't be on this forum...

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings.

...as opposed to the serenade for horny tenor in cords?

as soon as the tenor came in all my teeth fell out ....

[eighthobstruction]

if there was LIKE button on this forum, this post would get it. Then again, if there was a LIKE button, I probably wouldn't be on this forum...

BB definitely had a far reaching m/c highbrow support system around him....keeping him wrapped up warm....to devote his time to music....But from the torture in a lot of his original works this did not totally succeed....That the Malting should burn down and that money was immediately found to rebuild it super quick is i think interesting....enjoyed the short period of overkill....especially enjoyed TV Doc's....for biographical reasons....the use of the over use of Peter Peers voice will always put me off the operas, before any other consideration is made....

[Ian Thumwood]

The odd thing about all British composers is that they all have their advocates who trumpet the merits whether it be for Elgar, Delius or Britten yet these names remain relatively unknown in Europe if a little more appreciated in the US. I was staggered to discover that a French friend of mine who worked as a professional musician had never encountered Delius, for example. The Brits never seem to have the clout of a Bach, Beethoven or a Mozart and whilst I acknowledge that they have their followers, I feel foriegners seem to view British classical music with more scepticism than those from Germany, France or Italy, etc. This seems unreasonable as I do like some of our own composers whether it is Delius, some Elgar, Foulds or Gavin Bryars. Even someone like Holst is often not immediately recognised abroad as having been a Brit. British composers always seem to have to climb over an additional hurdle and I feel we sometimes do not appreciate just how good some British composers were. True, there are alot who have been over-rat5ed but there are more who don't get enough credit.

I suppose that it is largely true than we had few composers of real worth between the Baroque era up until the end of the 19th century of real merit yet I feel that if it wasn't for the advance of Modernism and the speed at which the music subsequently evolved, those composers of the early 20 century would have probably been dominant had Classical music remained at a constant. This was a "Golden era" in my opinion. I can't5 see BB as the pick of the bunch. Britten 's pacifist views seemed more in keeping with the politics of the post-war era so that even if BB was far more conservative than better composers of his generation like Messaien or Takemitsu, you can appreciate why the establishment took to his music. He was a "safe" Modernist at a time when our more conservative writers like Malcolm Arnold seemed quite tame. However, his music still reeks of "Establishment" and the clips of people fawning over his music on TV documentaries last week did nothing to suggest this wasn't the case.

Unfortunately, I find that Britten's music seems really dated and even if I can't say I hate everything about his music, there is something about it that makes you cringe with embarrassment when hearing some of it. As a jazz fan, it strikes me as odd just how much Britten's music seems divorced from jazz whether being influenced by the American music or having an influence on jazz as has been the case with Ravel, Debussy, Messaien, Bartok or even Scriabin. Much of the best / most interesting Classical music of the twentieth century atleast had a nodding acquaintance with jazz. BB's music sounds affected or perhaps too earnest ~ neither being qualities you associate with great music. I can't hear the buzz of excitement and the fascination of the new that is so important to the works of the better composers of the last century whether it is Bartok or Duke Ellington. BB's ,music smacks of "Establishment" and this makes me very suspicious. I don't feel Britten is by any means unique in this respect (the period when BB was active was victim to quite a few composers whose output seemed equally arrogant and similarly dated ) but the fact that he was British only serves to make thos seem worse.

It's funny but I feel jazz really benefited Classical Music and gave it a shot in the arm. Quite a few "comtemporary" composers seem to have been inspired and I find writers like John Adams even Steve Reich have a freshness and zip about them that embraces jazz which I find a refreshing contrast to the studied seriousness of much that was written in the 30 years after WW2. BB's music has a snuffy and sniffy quality about it which rejects the new possibilies of influences beyond Classical Music.

[charles t]

Ian: Something by John Adams that was premiered in 2003 at the opening of Disney Hall, L.A.

(and...there is a Part 2)