Letter to the editor

We thought this article in the Sydney Morning Herald was rather silly and thought we'd share with you the letter to the editor by our friend Christopher Nicholls
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/theres-just-no-sound-argument-for-being-hooked-on-classics-20091113-ielq.html

Dear Editor,

I am writing with a quiet sense of resignation, that what I write will do Mr Dick no good whatsoever, but I just can't help myself. Tim Dick's article in the SMH on Saturday 14th November 2009, entitled “There's just no sound argument for being hooked on classics”, is one of those Norman Gunstonesque -type essays. “Say something controversial!” - Dick has managed to deliberately set out to stick it into those whose life or love is music of this genre – just to goad a response and gain him some readership. Cheap shot.

But his tawdry and ignorant claims can't go unanswered – so let's look at some of his “premises”:

Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune. The line is from the hand of a dead American cartoonist, but I share his feeling.

What a banal comment. It rather assumes that everyone has a popcorn interest in art and music and that tunes are all there is to music. Regardless, surprisingly classical music has hundreds of tunes even ones that have been incorporated and ingrained into societies long-term memory banks – “Anyhow...” and the Paul Hogan led advertisement using a Tchaikovsky “tune” from his 5th Symphony. I bet even Mr Dick can hum that one.

The only reason the "Jupiter" movement from The Planets made it big was after Gustav Holst reworked it to accommodate a patriotic poem...

Twaddle. Holst's Planets Suite is popular far beyond just the Jupiter piece – Mars is a spectacular part of that music and it is one of the most popular “tunes” in the Suite. It was certainly one of the influences of the theme music for Star Wars too!

Classical music tends to the self-indulgent meandering that forces listeners through too many tortured lows for too few supposed peaks.

And I suppose the Louvre in Paris is filled with stupid renditions of supine fat naked women and poncy men and a dull portrait of an ugly woman with a silly smile..? Dick shows his true ignorance of music. He hasn't even got the nous to say “I know what I like...”!

Music is the one thing on this planet we shouldn't have to spend weeks listening to - studying, in other words - to like.

Again – a presumptuous and ignorant statement – as though Dick's prognostications are the norm! The millions of people throughout the history of classical music who have attended concerts are not all students of music and art – they just know what they like! It's not that hard Dick – you just have to get over your reverse-snobbery.

The well-educated are far more likely to go. Why? Snobbery.

Proof? There isn't any – it's an “elitist” argument thing Dick suffers from. More educated people go because they have been exposed to classical music more often than the less well educated. They learn to appreciate it for its beauty not its “esoteric rank”! Many of the “well-educated” audience have even been schooled in music – performing in choirs, orchestras and bands. Poor Dick must have missed out – and I mean that: what a shame, he has been deprived of a wonderful and important experience.

And if you want to see a completely counter attitude to this “Dick Theory”, you have to go no further than the “El Sistema” program in Venezuela. Here the children of the Barros – the slums of Venezuelan cities – have been taught how to play classical music, over a 35 year period: Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart et al. The audiences attending concerts now are huge and as diverse in age group and background as Venezuelan society – children, teenagers, families – young and old, rich and poor, all together in the concert halls. Many are simple people with poor backgrounds and even worse education experiences – hardly snobs – and not even predominantly aged. How did this happen? Through exposure to all of this beautiful music and though the teaching of children how to play it. Australia and the United States could learn a lesson or two here - as could Mr.Dick. (And it's never too late Mr Dick).

And why should we bother with a stuffy industry that, despite some efforts to liberalise protocol, insists on clapping before you've heard anything and not clapping even when you have?
...Each time I go to an orchestral concert, I (don't?) know why the conductor was clapped at the start.

As are rock stars, Hip Hop artists, Jazz musicians, and any musician that steps out onto a stage to perform. Where have you been Dick? Why should conductors (who are musicians and stars in there own right) not be cheered and applauded when they come out on stage – before the music is performed?

There are some more recent additions to “protocols” of applause – actually in the time of Mozart, each movement was often applauded depending on whether the audiences liked them or not. The “wait until the piece is finished” habit is a more recent phenomenon. It's done now more of respect of the artists performing the complex music – and to keep the flow of the piece for the audience. Each piece of classical music has a story to tell, after all.

Advertising people know most classics need a good edit. They know how to reduce a dreary, over-long composition into a good, snappy tune, or at least one that's not soporific.

Well.. Maybe Dick has an attention span problem – maybe it's ADHD or something like that? Perhaps he should stop watching so much commercial TV with 20 second grabs so that he can appreciate things that last just a bit longer. How on earth does he ever read books?

But there's a reason fewer than one in 10 Australians will bother with a classical concert this year: chances are, it will be dreadfully dull.

But at least we will have one less “unfortunate” in the audience to worry about and one more seat for someone who finds joy, hope and love in the music that they listen to and love to watch being performed. And doesn't find it "dull" at all...

Regards,

Chris Nicholls