Of the "big three" Soviet composers of the 20th century, Aram Khachaturian is usually the most underplayed and underrecorded. Certainly, Shostakovich is the superior composer, but Prokofiev is definitely not the same caliber composer as Khachaturian, although he did write Peter And The Wolf which everybody loves because there is a story. I try to pick up new Khachaturian music whenever I see it (I mean new as in ones I have never heard since he died 30 years ago), and I hadn't heard three of the four pieces on this disc. The Valencian Widow is excitingly bombastic, and A.K.'s use of strange, Armenian folk tunes and chords is in full force. The Battle of Stalingrad is also a pretty great piece, even if it was written for propaganda, but big deal most Soviet music was at the time, and it is great if you love horns and drums which I do so let's fight.RATING: 78%
Posts
9 comments:
Why do you think everyone loves a story? (I'm not arguing, in fact, I agree 100%)
Well, in classical music's case I think that people think that they don't "get" the music, that there's something going on that they can't quite comprehend. Although there are certainly complex chord structures that have meanings in music theory, I don't understand any of that, and I think that people can just enjoy the emotions classical music creates without it, but there is a certain class consciousness creating a barrier most people can't get past in listening to classical music. But with Peter & The Wolf, there is a kindly person telling you a story twined with the music that makes Joe Citizen feel included in whatever the music is doing.
Don't you think that's kind of condescending and Marxist?
This one guy Alex Argyros, in A Blessed Rage for Order, describes narrative as "a powerful human information processing technology." This seems to be the case in Peter and the Wolf, if, in fact, the reason it enjoys a broader appeal is because people find it more accessible and easier to understand.
Your response to my question raises another interesting question, I think: why is it that so many people find classical music so hard and/or boring to listen to? So far, we have 1) Because they don't know the theory, and thus the meaning (in the sense of something signified, rather than rendered or described) behind it; and 2) Because "class consciousness' leads them to impose cognitive and emotional barriers between themselves and the music (and maybe you're right about this--if I showed up at a party with a Vivaldi CD, plenty of people would think I was just being "hoity-toity" or putting on airs).
Are there any other possibilities?
I guess some people might genuinely not like it.
But then aren't most "classical" things assumed to be universally accessible to educated taste?
I think part of the reason people don't like classical music is because they worry they don't "get it," as though there was something to get, and then can't enjoy it because they're trying to think through it too hard. Another reason might be all the commercials and comedy movies where some rich douche with a monocle is listening to Bach or whatever, and people generally don't want to be associated with rich douches.
On the contrary, I think people basically aspire to be associated with rich douches. Or is that just in my homeland? Wait, no. Remember when we stood outside that red door and refused to go inside? There were plenty of people who were really excited to go into said red door.
I don't have the time or inclination to read all your long comments, but let me just add my two cents in here anyway. I am well educated and intelligent, but I also think classical music is by and large tearfully boring. And it's not like I didn't try. When I dated that (douchebag) double bass player for three years I went to countless orchestral performances. At every single one I tried to enjoy the music, but at 99% of them I would usually realize about halfway through that I had just zoned out for an hour and was bored out of my freaking mind. So when we broke up I just decided to be honest with myself and admit that I don't like classical music and probably never will. And I'm pretty much okay with that. Sorry classical music. Don't take it personally, you're just boring.
Post a Comment