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Prompt 6 redux – CHOICE CUTS (apologies for length)

A university that attempts to chip away at the white racial frame should do so from a place of humility and recognition. Academia, through its relentless focus on the works of the “great masters of music”, has long been the… Continue Reading →

Prompt 4 redux – CHOICE CUTS

I think that classical music does itself a disservice in its obsession to preserve the norms of centuries long gone. We shouldn’t expect everyone to experience musical transcendence exclusively on the terms of contemporaries of Napoleon. Most of these composers… Continue Reading →

Optional Promt D – CHOICE CUTS

Seven instructional compositions, by Gabe Cayer ————————————————— Pick up a pen. Write down what it was thinking. Immediately forget what you wrote. ————————————————— Pinch yourself. If any part of you enjoyed it, pinch yourself again. If no part of you… Continue Reading →

Optional Prompt B – CHOICE CUTS

Musicians love to talk about music riots, probably because they make us feel dangerous and relevant. According to composer George Benjamin, Olivier Messiaen was delighted when an audience member hit him on the head with an umbrella after a premiere… Continue Reading →

Blog Prompt 9

Reading about the historical transition from the artist as servant to the artist as showman entrepreneur made me think of recent attempts to re-engineer a democratized version of the former system. In this case I’m thinking specifically about Patreon, a… Continue Reading →

Blog Prompt 8

In his guest presentation on the musical traditions found in Latin America, Dr. Munarriz prefaced his discussion of the musical forms themselves with a few remarks problematizing the labels we use for “Latin America”. He started by examining each half… Continue Reading →

Blog Prompt 7

The krautrock-style freakout “Polacca” by OOIOO features some obvious participatory discrepancies. First, whereas the bass is in 6, drums and guitar are in a duple meter, pre-empting beats 2 and 4 ever so slightly. Different vocal styles overlap each other,… Continue Reading →

Blog Prompt 6

A university that attempts to chip away at the white racial frame should do so from a place of humility and recognition. Academia, through its relentless focus on the works of the “great masters of music”, has long been the… Continue Reading →

Blog Prompt 5

I listened to the Passacaglia from Caroline Shaw’s Partita for 8 voices. The first few times listening to the piece were like exploring a room full of curious objects while wearing a blindfold. My attention was pulled this way and… Continue Reading →

Blog prompt 4

I don’t think that the preoccupation classical music has with preserving the norms of centuries long gone is particularly healthy. We shouldn’t expect everyone to experience transcendence exclusively on the terms of contemporaries of Napoleon. Most of these composers were… Continue Reading →

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