I came across this gem in my google feed last night:
https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/its-time-to-let-classical-music-die/
https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/its-time-to-let-classical-music-die/
"Western classical music is not about culture. It's about whiteness. It's a combination of European traditions which serve the specious belief that whiteness has a culture-one that is superior to all others. Its main purpose is to be a cultural anchor for the myth of white supremacy. In that regard, people of color can never truly be pioneers of Western classical music. The best we can be are exotic guests: entertainment for the white audiences and an example of how Western classical music is more elite than the cultures of people of color."
Actually, Indians, many of whom have relatively fair skin, are regarded as Caucasian under the racial categories of traditional anthropology: Caucasian, *******, ********* and Australoid. From the start, the boundaries between these 'racial' categories, based on bone structure as well as skin color, have been acknowledged to be arbitrary. How ridiculous it is, then, to tie a purely cultural phenomenon like music to 'race' in this sense. Composers Joseph Bologne and William Grant Still, and George Bridgetower, the Polish violin virtuoso who inspired Beethoven to write the Kreutzer sonata, were all purely Western classical musicians. The fact that Western societies were very racist and sexist until the mid-20th century, and significant inequities persist today, doesn't automatically require applying the 'racist' label to all Western music.It has never occurred to me on my visit to India when listening to Indian music then I'm listening to racist music but rather music of a different race.
Who is using classical music for that purpose?If classical music is used to serve the specious belief that whiteness is a culture that is superior to all others, then this ideological notion is flawed.
Then you are "color blind."There are many ways to enjoy Mozart's music, but until now I didn't realise that "white" was one of them.
Know what exists?This is hilarious. Everything is unstated and hidden. So how do these wiseacres know it exists? The total theatre of the absurd!
Hear, hear, I salute you.I don't know that racism is a problem that we can really "solve" in any absolute sense. It is a problem that we must recognize and wrestle with in a personal way in our own daily lives. And, to some extent, we can encourage public representatives and broader policies that tend toward or away from institutionalized racism, and should, in my opinion, attempt the latter and avoid the former. Racism isn't limited to whites, although since white males still tend to hold most of the reins of power in the US, our racism is a larger problem.
No, it's not inherently racist to listen to Mozart. You should be aware, however, that this music was created in an exclusively white framework, and the growing attitude of cultural superiority it represents to many people, which must now be acknowledged.With all of this admitted, I do not see any plausible argument that enjoying listening to the music of Mozart is somehow inherently racist, even if he did happen to be an 18th century white male of European descent.
More "heavy metal" humor from Flamme. Right on, bro! Shreddin'!Bro I heard there is a hit on your head by these dudes...The Nordic aliens...Keep your eyes on the skies these days...
I actually don't mind people asking us to view things from a different perspective from time to time. It can be eye-opening. It can be thought-provoking. It can possibly be of benefit to all concerned. If that's what's being taught at University -don't accept 'male and female as givens; ask what the words mean or imply'- I think that's fine.As I said the worry is to me that there are universities which are spreading this rubbish like how somehow foraging for mushrooms is a cause of right wing populism in Europe. While no-one here with any sense takes our dear horned friend seriously, there are gullible young people out there being fed this sort of piffle. There is some other lunatic out there who reckons that colonialism and racism were responsible for the gender constructs 'men and women'. Yes and this third rater is teaching at a university - being paid to communicate this drivel. At least mr is doing it for fun and our amusement. But these guys are insisting students take them seriously.
Noise can be used to make music.Most of it lies outside of what can reasonably be considered genuine music. (The paradigm it lies inside of is mostly noise.)
To me that's exactly what a composer is, an 'organiser of sound.'Edgar Varèse used the phrase "organizer of sound" instead of composer, which John Cage also took up.
Percussion music is the beginning of a conception of music liberated from the dictates of the common practice era.
Most likely it would be noise to me. I find it hard to imagine how it might be done in such a way that it could still be recognizable as dog barks and music.I once heard a clip created from editing dog barks into the tune "Jingle Bells", or some such song. Is it noise or music?
It seems to me highly unlikely that either, without some kind of remarkable re-engineering, would produce what I would consider to be musical sounds. The dull thud of a cardboard box might be unobtrusive in the midst of a larger work.Can someone make music by hitting a cardboard box, or a metal trash can?
On this point, we disagree.To me sound is a continuum that includes the chromatic scale. Using any object to produce a sound you can create music.
Music is a limited form of sound. That is part of what makes it so valuable.It is incredibly limiting to think of music as only what has been written using conventional instruments.