'The Ageless Audience' and Classical Music

Robin is now in Istanbul and settling into the Queen Victoria, which will be home for the next week, and I'm waiting to hear which day will be concert day.

When he does perform his concert, the age of the audience is likely to be, but not exclusively, 40 +.
There are many reasons for this, and it is often an area debated in a very negative way.
So I was very pleased to read a recent report by Diane Haithman in the Los Angeles Times, 'The ageless audience.'

The report challenges the view that the audience for live performing arts is aging, and suggests that this is in fact nothing new.

It's so refreshing to read a more optimistic take on the whole area.
Rather than the doom and gloom of the decline in interest in classical music by the younger generation, it focuses on the more logical issues that prevent younger people attending concerts.
Finance plays a part along with having young children.
When in your 20's you may well choose to spend any available money in a different way, and by your 30's, are often caught up in life with small children.
By your 40's onwards, the situation starts to change, and coincidentally, that is when people tend to start attending classical concerts...

There's also the argument that listening to classical music requires a higher level of concentration, something that is achieved over time, and with more life experience.
It's all there in the report, and is well worth a read.

But we shouldn't sit back and assume that people will naturally move towards classical music as they get older.
They do need to have some early exposure to encourage the transition.
This is one of the reasons why I blog, Twitter and run a MySpace page.
MySpace in particular highlights the need to interact with the younger generation in a way that is familiar to them.
Many of our 'friends' on MySpace are young, electric guitar players, who can see and appreciate the skill required to be a classical player, even though they don't do it themselves.
I have even had messages from some saying they would go and see Robin perform live, as they hadn't before realised how exciting it can be.
All that achieved from just 5 tracks on a MySpace page.

It is also why I have often mentioned the need for more access to classical music on mainstream television.
Then there will be more opportunities for the younger generation to hear and see performances, even if by chance.
A good example of this was the recent 'Maestro' series on BBC 2, which I wrote about here.

A worrying development I recently heard about in the UK, although I've not confirmed this information, is that for GCSE Music you no longer need to be able to read music.
If this is the case then it is absurd, and maybe they should re title it GCSE Music appreciation.
How on earth can you be given a qualification suggesting a certain level of ability has been obtained, if you can't actually read a note of music?

As I mentioned the other day on Twitter, our youngest son, age 6, took his violin into school and played a few pieces.
One of his peers went home and told his mum that our son could read that funny language!
Even at the age of 5/6 children appreciate that 'notes' are indeed another form of communication.

Would you give someone GCSE French if they couldn't speak a word of it?
I hope not.
This is not completely off topic.
The point being that 'early exposure' is vital.
We need to reinforce the importance, and influence, that music can have on our lives at an early age, to give children the chance to discover it in more detail later on.

In the words of G.K.Chesterton:

"Education is simply the soul of society as it passes from one generation to another."

Wife of a Musician - Revisited

Robin and son have been enjoying Venice and the last I heard had just visited the Vivaldi museum.

I am pretty sure that after a couple of hours sightseeing the pair will return to their quarters as Robin will need to start rehearsing.
Whilst son is on holiday, Robin certainly isn't.
He will have a few high profile and high pressure concerts in the next few weeks on Crystal Serenity.

But I, as I completed some regular site checks, was once again struck by the number of followers we have, interested in the 'wife' of the musician, as much as the 'life' of the musician.

So, as I reflect on the trials of the last few days, it seemed an appropriate time to point people in the right direction for posts related to the 'wife' of this particular musician.

For example, 'The Wife of a Musician - Part 1 - The Music' seemed a good starting point.

Neatly followed by 'Part 2 - Travel'. (Very appropriate at the moment...)

Guitarists nails have been mentioned many times here, and this post looks at the problem from a slightly different perspective, 'Guitarists Hands - and Nails'.

'Sound Checks Complete and Wives of Musicians Unite', has always been a popular post.

Or maybe you could try, 'Creativity and the Wife of a Musician'.

Finally, for today, 'A View From The Stage'.

There are others, so if your desperate for more, then take a look around. Alternatively, look at any post and read between the lines - I did after all write them...

Nigel Kennedy - Running on Pure Adrenalin

As Nigel Kennedy prepares to perform Elgar's Violin Concerto tonight at the BBC Proms 2008 you can be assured that he won't have ingested any prescribed medication to combat nerves prior to his concert.

However, what he does after the performance, in order to relax, may be a different matter.
This point was recently highlighted in many newspapers and blogs.

One example was in The Guardian blog with a post from the American oboist, journalist and author of 'Mozart in the Jungle', Blair Tindall.

Apparently Kennedy is against musicians taking prescribed drugs for stage fright, but not adverse to occasional cannabis use.

This whole topic reminded me of a post I ran almost a year ago which looked at Robin's views of the use of beta blockers to combat nerves, 'Sex, Drugs and Classical Music.'

So, apart from the cannabis, I think we fall into the same camp as Nigel Kennedy, which I must say isn't a bad place to be.
I'm actually far more concerned that I will only be able to hear his performance at the proms tonight on Radio 3, and not see it on any of the available television stations, despite huge coverage in the media....

Track 2 - 'Arrival' and John Johnson

The second track on 'Arrival' is 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard', by John Johnson (1540-1595).

A Pavane is a Court dance of the 16th and early 17th century, which is usually sedate, and often an introduction for a processional dance.
The pavane consists of two single steps and one double step forward, followed by two single steps and one double step backwards. It's played in duple time, 2 or 4 beats to the bar.

The Galliard is much livelier, a triple-metre dance, usually with regular phrase structures of 8, 12, or 16 bars, with a step-pattern of five movements taken to six minims, which is similar to that of the salterello, except that the steps are higher and more vigorously executed.

As you listen to these pieces, you can easily imagine the ladies and gentlemen of the Elizabethan Court enjoying the music and joining in, starting with the slow Pavane and moving on to the more energetic Galliard.
'La Vecchia' simply means old.

At this time it was common for lutenists to undertake the position of an apprentice within a noble house, often from a very early age.
This was an essential process for any musician of 'low birth' to make contacts with the wealthy aristocracy, which would then allow them access to the Royal Courts.
The modern day equivalent would presumably be blogs, MySpace, Twitter, and the like, the modern way of networking.

Whilst records are difficult to trace, it is thought that Johnson would have undertaken an apprentice position in a noble house, likely to be that of the Earl of Leicester.
His skill as a lutenist didn't go unnoticed though, and by 1577 he had entered the Royal services of Her Majesty's Musicians for the three lutes, along with Mathias Mason and Thomas Cardell. The number rising to six or seven lutenists as the popularity of the instrument increased.

John Johnson is regarded as the founder of the school of English lute music of the 'Golden Age', which culminated in the works of John Dowland.
Johnson's playing must have been exceptional, and it is believed that he was Queen Elizabeth I favourite lutenist, but his importance also lies within the huge body of works available today.
His manuscripts have been found all over Europe even though it's thought that Johnson never left England, a feat only matched, and exceeded, by John Dowland himself.

The musical tradition continued with his son, Robert Johnson (1582-1633), also a lutenist, but he was connected with Elizabethan Acting Troupes, working with playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher.

So, 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' is steeped in the lute tradition, although Johnson developed the lute duet to an unprecedented level of technical and musical excellence. With complete equality of parts being one of the striking features of Johnson's work.
Johnson was certainly more prolific than any of his English contemporaries, and 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' together make a fine example of the conversational style of the Elizabethan lute duet.

The guitar repertoire is greatly enriched by the assimilation of the lute's vast body of works, in this recording the guitars are played with capos at the third fret to create a more lute-like sonority.

'Twitter' on Life of a Musician...

The last time I heard from Robin he was about to go out to dinner, in Jamaica, with the flautist, Simeon Wood.
Not a bad way to pass an evening.
He will be working hard now though, with plenty of guitar practise, as Robin has a concert today.

I have also been busy.
For some time I have been aware of 'Twitter', and have been considering adding it to the blog.
Fellow blogger, Jason Heath , has been a fan for a while now, and fuelled by his enthusiasm, I investigated further.

As I have said before, there are many people following this blog because they are interested in the 'Wife of a Musician', alongside the 'Life of a Musician'.
Twitter gives me the opportunity to add little bite size snippets of information, that may be about me, Robin, thoughts in general, or, really anything I feel like.
The beauty is that it's quick, easy, and it means there will always be something new for you to read, even if I haven't posted a traditional blog that day.

All you have to do is glance to your left, and you will see the new feature,'Twitter Updates'.
This will carry the last five entries I've added, but, if you want to read more, click on 'Follow me on Twitter', and you can see how, gradually, my network of fellow twitters will grow.
Alternatively, join yourself, and you'll find me at, 'twitter.com/AnnaHill'.

At the risk of sounding like Jason's stalker, we have already met up on Twitter, and I'm also posting the same YouTube clip he used recently, mainly because it explains the whole thing so succinctly.

I do have other 'experiments' underway, but, more of that on another day.
I don't want to go into technological overload....

Stolen Identity

Since I last posted, which was only Tuesday, Robin has settled into life on board Crystal Symphony.
He has spent a day at sea, then enjoyed the pleasures of Grand Cayman, before returning to sea again.
He is doing plenty of practise in preparation for his concert on Saturday, but also, enjoying the wonderful weather. I know this as a call was interrupted to apply further suncream and prevent burning.....

Meanwhile, here, I have been involved in a case of stolen identity.
My alert system informed me of a mention, somewhere in cyberspace, of the Hill/Wiltschinsky Guitar Duo.
I followed the link, as I normally do, just to check it out.
I was therefore amazed to find what appeared to be a blog.
The title was one of mine, the entry was one of mine, all the content was mine, but the author had an entirely different name.

Someone, somewhere, had gone to the trouble of creating a page, adding my blog entry, making a links section, contacts etc. to give the illusion that they were writing about the duo.
I won't give them the satisfaction of a link to show you what I mean, as I'm pretty sure there are dubious and unsavoury connections, but the original post from me was written back in January 2007.
This was my version, 'Accidents Happen: Part 1'.

Why they should choose this particular entry I have no idea.
Why they should choose Hill/Wiltschinsky I have no idea.
Why they should choose me I have no idea.

The internet is an amazing and informative tool when used correctly. It has opened up the world in a way that wouldn't have even been dreamed of not that long ago.
But like most advances there is a downside.
It isn't always as it appears.
This 'stolen' blog would appear authentic to anyone who hasn't visited the official site.
They could therefore follow many of the links to read further, only to find themselves taken to pages very far removed for a classical guitar duo.
I assume the owners of this page get something out of it.
But I didn't like to linger too long, once I realised what had happened, for fear of some contamination/virus.
This occured a few weeks ago, and I haven't had any problems, so I assume they must get some sort of financial reward for clicks on their links.

The reason for telling you all this.
Well, just to be aware that things aren't always as they seem.