Posted on 09/15/2020 1:12:30 PM PDT by C19fan
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony starts with an anguished opening theme — dun dun dun DUNNNN — and ends with a glorious, major-key melody. Since its 1808 premiere, audiences have interpreted that progression from struggle to victory as a metaphor for Beethoven’s personal resilience in the face of his oncoming deafness.
Or rather, that’s long been the popular read among wealthy white men who embraced Beethoven and turned his symphony into a symbol of their superiority and importance. For others — women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color — Beethoven’s symphony is predominantly a reminder of classical music’s history of exclusion and elitism. One New York City classical music fan wrote in the 1840s, for example, that he wished that “all women shall be gagged by officers duly licensed for the purpose before they’re allowed to enter a concert room.”
Today, some aspects of classical culture are still about policing who’s in and who’s out, and it all started with Beethoven’s Fifth. When you walk into a standard concert hall, there’s an established set of conventions and etiquette (“don’t cough!”; “don’t cheer!”; “dress appropriately!”) that’s more about demonstrating belonging than appreciating the music.
(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...
Communism has taken over.
The problem is it takes real talent to write and preform.
So not achievable by certain groups.
I would be surprised if Beethoven ever even saw a black person. People need to stop looking for racism boogie men under every rock. Eventually no one cares.
And the fact that the Soviets weren’t this culturally oppressive should give us all pause.
At least the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy appreciated good music. They were all nationalistic; the Soviets preferred Russian music, the Nazis preferred German music, and the Fascists preferred Italian music, but it was all good music.
What a crock of fecal matter. There are no new Beethovens out there. New composers write dissonant or minimalist crap. This is the same BS as "what makes Shakespeare any better than African oral traditions?'
Ask Brian Williams . . . he was there.
Well, that means Rossini is out too. The Lone Ranger Theme smacks of racist concepts of law and order. As a minority, Tonto is obviously an Uncle Tom Tom.
There was that scene in The Longest Day where the German soldier is stealing the farmer’s milk when the fog lifts to the tune of the first four notes of the Fifth, and suddenly he’s looking at a thousand warships. Awesome.
Then the naval barrage commences and the German scrambles away in panic. Meanwhile, the French farmer goes wild with joy, cheering and waving the Tricolor as shells are crashing all around him.
Anyway, it’s come to this: if you are white, straight, and voted for Trump, you & your way of life are under siege and a target is on your back.
The Proms
or the BBC Proms, more formally known as the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London.The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events.
The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".
Prom is short for promenade concert, a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing.
In the context of the BBC Proms, promming refers to the use of the standing areas inside the hall (the Arena and Gallery) for which ticket prices are much lower than for the seating. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes referred to as "Prommers" or "Promenaders".
It used to be you were an elitist if you heard the William Tell Overture without thinking of The Lone Ranger. I’m not sure if that is true of the current generation.
Isn’t blasting foul language over a ghetto blaster in the hood exclusionary? It certainly excludes me and turns me off. But that is besides the point.
Music is music. I am sick of everything being viewed through a political lens.
Reminders not to cough and to dress appropriately aren’t symbols of exclusion, they’re just reminders to be polite.
This article is full of...cow poop.
Our parents brought my sister and me to many artistic events held in Chicago; musicals, ballet, plays, etc. We learned basic polite behavior at a young age.
Kids today don’t learn etiquette anymore. It’s sad, really.
All classical music is racist. Out with Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. “
Right and don’t even get started on Richard Wagner.
LOL! Literally!
That is so true. Classical music can stir the soul.
Rap, not so much.
Bravo!!!!
These inbreds want us all listening to angry rap, bongo drums, coconut bass and calypso noise pollution.
That is ‘culture’ to them.
No doubt because of how well they do at math. Removes tongue from teeth carries on.
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