uTopianTurtleTop

BEEF NO BEEF

Alex Ross’s call for publicity stunts from classical musicians got conflated in my mind with his previous call that classical position itself as “the new underground” and downtown composer Kyle Gann’s consistently excellent writing on the uptown-downtown schism among contemporary composers.

“Dateline: New York, New York

“In a page from the hip hop publicity playbook, America’s post-minimalist composers have shown up heavily armed at several recent concerts of music by contemporary 12-tone composers, spewing threats and waving guns, a la 50 Cent and the Game. The classical ‘gangsta’ scare seeme to be over now, as evidenced by a kiss-and-make-up press conference last night.

“‘Me and the 12-tone crew got no beef,’ said conciliatory-sounding but still surly-seeming post-minimalist composer John Luther Adams.  ‘It was a misunderstanding that got blown out of proportion by you guys in the media.  Peace out.’”