The Fine Art of Listening

Dudamel‘s back again. Expect to see him a lot.

This is one crazy video. Crazy-awesome, that is. I love how the audience is so into the music, they are standing up, dancing, clapping, cheering, throwing stuff. Why not? How can you sit still in this sort of atmosphere, with this music? And wow, those musicians nail it, even while standing up and dancing! Have a great Mardi Gras!

Leonard Bernstein‘s Mambo from West Side Story:

There are plenty of accounts that European and American audiences used to be this rowdy at concerts. The current “stuffy” atmosphere at Art Music concerts is often blamed on: 1) the late 19th century rise of the middle-class, which sought ways to distinguish itself from the lower class, and thus created a set of “rules” for concert-going; 2) the subtle but long-running smear-campaign against Art Music in movies & TV (who listens to Art Music? The losers, the squares, the fuddy-duddies, and the bad guys, who invariably have English accents); 3) Gustav Mahler.

I’m sorry. I just really don’t care about sports.

Two years ago (Superbowl 48, or XLVIII, as the sportsters like to say) the big deal (in the art music world, at least) was that opera superstar Renée Fleming sang the national anthem. It was the first time an opera singer performed at a superbowl, and was probably the first time most football fans ever heard something akin to opera (with the exception of “kill the wabbit“, of course).

This year, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles in the superbowl halftime show (though you wouldn’t know it, since they barely get mentioned. Forget these young people and their passion for art. Gotta leave plenty of room for … Coldplay …)

Dudamel is the rock star of conductors. He skyrocketed to fame through his success with the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan youth orchestra (which is no longer a youth orchestra – the band was so good, they grew up together and became a world-renowned pro orchestra.) Now Dudamel is working his magic with the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, which provides free instruments, music lessons, and academic assistance to underserved communities in LA.

but … Coldplay … ?

Hats off to Dudamel! Here’s him conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in a performance of a dance by Meixcan composer Arturo Marquez.

… Cold … play …

Without a doubt, African-American Spirituals are the most influential compositions in the history of American Art and popular music. From their influence on the 19th century songs of Stephen Foster and the like, to the explosion of Jazz, blues, and ultimately everything from Gershwin to Elvis to Motown, Madonna, and yes, even Justin Bieber. Originally the songs of slaves, this heartfelt music is rich with the full expression of human emotion. It was orally passed down through the years until the late 19th century, when composers like Harry T. Burleigh began to write it down and bring it into concert halls and churches. It continues to inspire and feed the hungry soul to this day.