I am saddened by the Julliard news particularly because it reminds me how little things have changed since my very brief time attempting to build a career as an academic and composer. The terrible stories I heard back then of many people I had formerly respected, people who held prestigious positions and won the biggest prizes and wrote the music that everyone was talking about—some of whom I knew personally and revered—were so common that they barely ranked as happy hour gossip. I would name names but chances are, if you're reading this you yourself could probably rattle off a half dozen or so.
This behavior has been so persistent over time that institutions need dramatic and decisive gestures to start to tack in a more positive direction. Sure, give Rouse, Beaser, Corigliano, etc., due process, but if the allegations bear out it should be heads on pikes for all to see. I would even like to see the Pulitzer and Grawemeyer committees rescind awards for composers who have a demonstrated pattern of abuse. The industry writ large needs to grow a set of sharp shark teeth and give regular demonstrations of their use so that the potential consequences to this kind of behavior are felt on a visceral level.
The mixtape video is superb. So educational and fantastic listening - also strikes me how different each harpsichord sounds, compared to "compare different performances" piano videos.
Juilliard 😮💨
For NTT, my guesses will be Janacek and Enescu (I know they both have super interesting violin sonatas that sound vaguely this way???).
I am saddened by the Julliard news particularly because it reminds me how little things have changed since my very brief time attempting to build a career as an academic and composer. The terrible stories I heard back then of many people I had formerly respected, people who held prestigious positions and won the biggest prizes and wrote the music that everyone was talking about—some of whom I knew personally and revered—were so common that they barely ranked as happy hour gossip. I would name names but chances are, if you're reading this you yourself could probably rattle off a half dozen or so.
This behavior has been so persistent over time that institutions need dramatic and decisive gestures to start to tack in a more positive direction. Sure, give Rouse, Beaser, Corigliano, etc., due process, but if the allegations bear out it should be heads on pikes for all to see. I would even like to see the Pulitzer and Grawemeyer committees rescind awards for composers who have a demonstrated pattern of abuse. The industry writ large needs to grow a set of sharp shark teeth and give regular demonstrations of their use so that the potential consequences to this kind of behavior are felt on a visceral level.
The mixtape video is superb. So educational and fantastic listening - also strikes me how different each harpsichord sounds, compared to "compare different performances" piano videos.
Juilliard 😮💨
For NTT, my guesses will be Janacek and Enescu (I know they both have super interesting violin sonatas that sound vaguely this way???).