{"id":106,"date":"2012-06-28T04:02:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T11:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/?p=106"},"modified":"2012-07-10T04:57:20","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T11:57:20","slug":"no-mr-eddins-its-your-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"No, Mr. Eddins, it’s YOUR fault!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The latest in a 100-year effort to scare people away from the music of Arnold Schoenberg is a blog by Bill Eddins,\u00a0It’s Schoenberg’s Fault!<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

I did an interview with a reporter from Minnesota Public Radio yesterday exploring the difficulties being faced by the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.\u00a0 After a thorough dissection of the mistakes that led up to this current mess with both orchestras, and much of the classical music industry thereto, I have come to one undeniable conclusion \u2013 it\u2019s Schoenberg\u2019s fault.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His theory is that ordinary people will not listen to ANY classical music, because orchestras sometimes program works by Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. Ok. That’s one theory. But I have another.<\/p>\n

I suppose it is possible that Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Josephine Average (as Eddins calls them) discuss whether or not to go to a classical music concert, and Mr. Average says to his wife, “You know, honey, I’ve heard Schoenberg’s\u00a0Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra<\/a><\/em> and I just don’t like it. \u00a0So let’s not go to the concert tonight (whatever they are playing). \u00a0I just don’t want to listen to any classical music ever again.” But I think there is a more likely scenario.<\/p>\n

Mr. and Mrs. Average are prejudiced. \u00a0They have probably never heard a note of music by Schoenberg, Berg or Webern and certainly could not tell the difference between their music and that of Stravinsky, Bartok or Ives, about which Eddins writes that “people are excited to hear it” and “jump to their feet.”<\/p>\n

What sends the audience away is not the music, it’s the hype. \u00a0It is prejudice. Literally, people have been taught by Mr. Eddins and others to pre-judge the music before they even listen to a note of it. They see the name on the program, figure they won’t like the music because they’ve heard that it’s hard to like, and stay away. Eddins is a purveyor of hatred and prejudice.<\/p>\n

I am not suggesting that every person will love every note of Schoenberg’s music. It is often not easy, especially on a first listening. But, as Eddins points out, audiences often love difficult music. They just have to know that it’s ok to like it. Honestly, is it Schoenberg’s fault that people like Eddins write articles and give interviews suggesting that if an orchestra programs\u00a0Verklaerte Nacht<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Pelleas und Melisande<\/a>,\u00a0Gurrelieder<\/a><\/em>, Monn Cello Concerto<\/a>,\u00a0Theme and Variations<\/a><\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Suite for String Orchestra<\/em><\/a>, or even the Brahms<\/a> or Bach<\/a> orchestrations, that “subscription renewals drop like a paralyzed falcon”? \u00a0Do Mr. and Mrs. Average really appreciate Stravinsky’s\u00a0Le Sacre de Printemps<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and Bartok’s\u00a0Concerto for Orchestra<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>more than Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphonies One<\/a><\/em> and Two<\/a><\/em>?<\/p>\n

Ah, Eddins might say, you are not mentioning the more difficult works like\u00a0Five Pieces for Orchestra<\/em><\/a> or the twelve-tone\u00a0Variations for Orchestra<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Violin Concerto<\/a> or\u00a0Piano Concerto<\/a>. \u00a0But that’s the whole point. \u00a0Eddins doesn’t differentiate those works in his post either. \u00a0He\u00a0writes, about all of it, “this music does not seem to speak to most people\u2019s souls.” \u00a0Really? \u00a0All of it?<\/p>\n

The real problem is that audiences have been prejudiced against ALL music by Schoenberg, as if they are required to like and appreciate every note. \u00a0It is an impossible standard, especially for the “average” music-lover who only wants a certain type of music (one that he is familiar with). Do Mr. and Mrs. Average need to avoid Petrouschka<\/a><\/em> because they won’t like the Requiem Canticles<\/a><\/em>?<\/p>\n

Schoenberg goes in many other directions (as do Stravinsky, Bartok and Ives), and that puts some people off. \u00a0As Schoenberg explained in his brief note:<\/p>\n

My music is supposedly not emotional.
\nOf course, it is not: \u201cOh, darling! You are so wonderful; I love you so much.\u201d
\nThere are also other kinds of love, for instance Alberich\u2019s, Monostaten\u2019s, Don Juan\u2019s but also Petrarca\u2019s (not expecting early reward).
\nThere are also different kinds of emotion.
\nThere is jealousy, hatred, enthusiasm.
\nThere is love of ideals, of virtues, of one\u2019s country, town or village and its inhabitants.
\nThere is not only joy,
\nThere is also sadness, mourning, pity and envy.
\nThere is also anger;
\nThere is contempt, pride, devotion, madness, fear, panic, courage, admiration.
\nLove of justice, of honesty, of good manners.
\nLove of good food and drinks and of the beauty of nature; of animals, flowers and exotic stones.
\nLove of a bird’s song and of competitive\u00a0games.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No need for Schoenberg to apologize. \u00a0It really is not his fault. Eddins and his ilk, preaching prejudice to the uninformed, are what is hurting classical music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest in a 100-year effort to scare people away from the music of Arnold Schoenberg is a blog by Bill Eddins,\u00a0It’s Schoenberg’s Fault! I did an interview with a reporter from Minnesota Public Radio yesterday exploring the difficulties being … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoenblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}