{"id":503,"date":"2015-12-14T19:22:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T00:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/?p=503"},"modified":"2015-12-14T23:33:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T04:33:03","slug":"dropping-the-mute-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/2015\/12\/dropping-the-mute-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropping the Mute"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/DroppingtheMute.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-463 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/DroppingtheMute-300x292.jpg\" alt=\"DroppingtheMute\" width=\"300\" height=\"292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/DroppingtheMute-300x292.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/DroppingtheMute.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><span class=\"dropcap\">S<\/span>everal years ago, Peter Schickele (well known for his \u201cdiscovery\u201d of P.D.Q. Bach) created a radio program for Public Radio International called \u201cSchickele Mix\u201d. The show\u2019s motto was a quote from Duke Ellington: If it sounds good, it is good. Over more than 175 episodes, Schickele explored the connections between almost every genre of western music. For example, his first show contained music of Praetorius, Mozart, Chopin, Webern, Gershwin, Glass, Lennon and McCartney, Lennie Tristano, Elton John, Harlan Howard, Sonny Throckmorton, Brent Maher, and Harold Arlen.<br \/>\nThis wonderful program, and the ecumenical spirit it embodied, were on my mind when I recently encountered an internet meme. This meme features a photograph of a very narrow upright piano (with only three white keys and two black ones). The different variations of the meme all have a caption that reads \u201cSpecial piano for composing hip-hop and rap\u201d, or something similar. When I\u2019ve seen this meme posted on Facebook, it\u2019s typically accompanied by commentary which will more explicitly deride these (and other) forms of music, often denying them the very label of \u201cmusic\u201d.<br \/>\nI don\u2019t tend to listen to hip-hop or rap any more than I do country music or teen pop. (Well, I do on occasion listen to teen pop, but I have teenagers who know how to work the media controls in my car.) I also don\u2019t care for okra, though I recognize it is a vegetable, and I acknowledge that many people find it delectable. The desire to listen to music is a universal human characteristic, one that rekindles people\u2019s belief in humanity. The impulse to denigrate the class of art that someone else enjoys, by contrast, plays to the basest elements of human nature.<br \/>\nPerhaps the food metaphor might be usefully extended: that fennel and celeriac salad with dill and white truffle oil you brought certainly looks delicious, and perhaps it is more sophisticated with a more complex and delicate flavor than my mashed potatoes, or my friend\u2019s Cajun red beans and rice. But would you really consider asserting so, publicly? And who in the room would respect you if you did? Can\u2019t we derive pleasure from all the food at the table, each in his or her own way?<br \/>\nI am not suggesting that symphony orchestras should abandon the canon and start programming only cross-over concerts with hip-hop artists\u2014although in my neighborhood the National Symphony Orchestra recently had two very successful concerts with Nas and Kendrick Lamar. But we should always be seeking to bring our music to new audiences. And fairly or not, our music is widely perceived as elitist in the worst sense of that word. Ultimately a message of \u201cyour music is terrible, come listen to mine\u201d is not very appealing.<br \/>\nThe Governing Board has for several years been urging a strategy of advocacy\u2014for our orchestras and for our art form. But it would be a grave mistake to speak for our art form at the expense of others, just as it would be wrong to laud one orchestra at the expense of another. As symphonic musicians, we are (or we should be) constantly striving to grow our audience, but it is a failing strategy to do so by denigrating other forms of music. Instead, we should be advocating for live music in all its forms. Ultimately, it is the paradigm of attending concerts that we should be nurturing. A culture in which live music in all its varieties is appreciated, supported, and valued is a culture that will maintain thriving orchestras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several years ago, Peter Schickele (well known for his \u201cdiscovery\u201d of P.D.Q. Bach) created a radio program for Public Radio International called \u201cSchickele Mix\u201d. The show\u2019s motto was a quote from Duke Ellington: If it sounds good, it is good. Over more than 175 episodes, Schickele explored the connections between almost every genre of western&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/2015\/12\/dropping-the-mute-4\/\">[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76,66],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-december-2015","8":"category-editor-reports","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dropping the Mute | Senza Sordino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.icsom.org\/senzasordino\/2015\/12\/dropping-the-mute-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dropping the Mute | Senza Sordino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Several years ago, Peter Schickele (well known for his \u201cdiscovery\u201d of P.D.Q. Bach) created a radio program for Public Radio International called \u201cSchickele Mix\u201d. The show\u2019s motto was a quote from Duke Ellington: If it sounds good, it is good. Over more than 175 episodes, Schickele explored the connections between almost every genre of western... 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