Ian Sidden

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‘The Anxious Ease of Apple Music’

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Alex Ross writing about Apple Music:

The majority of the population that ignores classical music will shrug and go back to the new Jamie xx record. (I’m enjoying his track “The Rest Is Noise.”) Yet Apple’s unwillingness to accommodate—in this first iteration, at least—defining features of a thousand-year tradition is symptomatic of general trends in the streaming business. You sense declining interest in the particulars of genres, in the personalities of artists, in political messages, in cultural contexts. Differences are flattened out: music really does stream, in an evenly regulated flow. One zone of Apple Music offers playlists tailored to various activities and moods: “Waking Up,” “Working,” “Chilling Out,” “Cooking,” “Getting It On,” and “Breaking Up.” All that’s needed is one for “Dying.” As the Times critic Ben Ratliff recently said, on the subject of streaming playlists, “I always feel as if I’m shopping somewhere, and the music reflects What Our Customers Like to Listen To. The experience can feel benignly inhuman.”

The more time I spend with Apple Music, the more I feel like I’m being marketed to. That is, of course, the case with just about everything online, but there’s something kind of blatant about the whole thing. For one, my “For You” area is full of well-known acts. I’m supposed to discover the “Deep Cuts” of Tupac or Kanye or Van Halen or the Doors or listen to Jimi Hendrix tracks arranged in an exciting new way.

Are my tastes really so main-stream? Or is there something else going on? I like these performers, but I haven’t listened to so much classical rock or hip hop in years.

Btw, I have yet to receive a single classical playlist as a recommendation even with all my little hearts being appropriately applied.

i – VII – VI – V: Monteverdi to Ray Charles

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While reviewing early opera, I’ve been listening not only to the operas of the early 17th century but also the madrigals of Monteverdi. When Monteverdi released his Eighth Book of Madrigals in 1638, the genre had morphed from the polyphonic form of the Renaissance into a mixture of homophony and solos. In truth, some of his madrigals sounded like opera scenes.

When I listened to Monteverdi’s Lamento della Ninfa, I was struck by the familiarity of the continuo bass line (1:38):

Familiar? It’s the descending line that you hear in “Hit the Road Jack” and “Erie Canal” and a bunch of other tunes: i – VII – VI – V (for those who think in Roman numerals).

Other notable similarities between them:

  • The backup singers are extremely important in both cases and begin both pieces rather than the soloists.
  • The bass line is an ostinato (though in the case of Ninfa, the very beginning and end have different music).
  • Both soloists have interjections that sound like emotive outbursts rather than complete melodies.

Most importantly though, both are laments (Charles’ is a very groovy lament). Something bad has happened to the soloists, and the composer uses that downward motion to communicate it. When I hear that descending line, I feel their pain.

And why not? We’ve had hundreds of years of precedent to establish this firmly in our ears. For example, “Ben mio” from Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo – which premiered about ten years after Monteverdi’s Ottavo Libro – uses it (though not as insistently):

I’m not the first to notice this. Alex Ross – blogger, critic, and author – mentions this relationship in a regular talk that he gives. He expands it to include other similar chord progressions, but the idea is the same: that downward motion – at least since the early 1600’s –  suggests LAMENT.

‘Tosca’ a Fiasco

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The best account I’ve read of the events at the Metropolitan Opera’s season premier of Tosca last week is by the New Yorker’s Alex Ross. In Fiasco Mr. Ross fleshes out the details of the most negatively received aspects of Luc Bondy’s new production. He also expresses some optimism at the end, which I appreciate.

He also writes the blog The Rest is Noise if you don’t follow it already.

Weekly Gathering

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The problem with positive thinking by Seth Godin offers some ideas why negative thinking is so prevalent, but he still asserts that positive thinking is the way to go.

Taking Liberties: Reviving the art of classical improvisation by Alex Ross of the New Yorker gives some history on improvisation in classical music, but it his discussion of cadenzas that is most interesting, especially for singers.

Music Teachers – Must Have Downloadable Freebies For the New School Year by Dr. Joseph Pisano of MusTech.Net gives an amazing list of free software options for music teachers and musicians in general.

Dealing with Rejection from Once More with Feeling is a timely piece since another season of auditions is upon us all. It offers something of a pep talk and a mental reframing to help us survive the pain that invariable comes from rejection.

Weekly Gathering

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U.S. vs. Lenny from Alex Ross’ The Rest is Noise blog links to his articles in The New Yorker about the government’s interest in Leonard Bernstein.

Technology in the Audition Room from Once More With Feeling is a furious attack on those who use various technologies while auditioning people.

Fatty Foods Affect Memory and Exercise from the Well blog reports on a study done showing that high fat diets not only hurt cognitive ability but also lower the effectiveness of exercise. So the double cheeseburger before a show….should probably be let go.