This summer has been musically sterile for me. I've been boycotting the local Colorado Music Festival because of their crappy programming, with the Beethoven stunt and ukuleles and tap dancing and guitars and all.
There was a bright spot this past weekend, however. The university hosted The Quartet Program, a program started in 1970 by Charles Castleman. See http://www.quartetprogram.com for more information on the programs. Apparently this was the first time it was done at the University of Colorado, but it appeared to me to be quite successful.
On three consecutive nights I was entertained by a total of 9 different string quartets. There was little information about the participants but I would guess most were late-teens early twenties students from around the country. I was impressed by the quality and consistency of the playing. The fare was Beethoven, Schubert, Bartok, Janacek, Haydn, Borodin, Ravel, Dvorak and Debussy. All played impressively.
As I understand, there were afternoon solo string performances, too. I couldn't attend, but I suspect the quality was also very good.
I hope this will not be the last time the program spends the summer in Boulder.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Death of the old...
A few days ago I commented on the demise of contemporary classical music broadcast on KVOD. Well, my lament is louder now. For reasons only known to KVOD and public radio in Colorado, the broadcast frequency was switched earlier in July from 90.1 MHz to 88.1 mHz on the FM band. I noticed immediately a decrease in the signal strength in my car and at home. My expensive auto-seeking radio at home couldn't even find KVOD. What stayed on 90.1 FM? Talk radio -- round the clock talk radio, news, commentary and more talk.
A letter to the editor to the Boulder Camera complained that even with a new pricey high definition radio KVOD didn't come in around Boulder. Then today a similar letter from a friend, Barry Knapp, pointed out that KVOD went from a 50 kilowatt transmitter for 90.1 MHz to a "puny" 1.2 kilowatt transmitter fpr 88.1 MHz. That's okay. Folks north of Denver didn't want to hear classical music or listen to the Metropolitan opera anyway. Boulder really only wants News! "News, News, News has a kind of mystery" sings Nixon in John Adams' "Nixon in China"
So it is with great regret that we bury KVOD and forget all about it. They took away contemporary classical music and now they've taken away all classical music. Who needs Bach and Beethoven and Mozart and Brahms and some of the other great composers? KVOD already stopped broadcasting Mahler and Bruckner and anyone who was foolish to compose music longer than about 25 minutes anyway. Colorado public radio wants News!! Forget the listening audience.
People have told me that I can always "listen" over the Internet. That just doesn't work in my car, of course. Nor is it convenient at night in my bedroom. I do sometimes listen from my desktop, but with Comcast being Comcast, I also get intermittent interruptions and dropped signals on my broadband connection. Frankly I don't want to replace the radios in my car nor in my home.
The radio was neat! You pressed a button and it instantly was played was was being broadcast. It was free except for the purchase of the radio. Now what are my choices?
Forget the high definition radio that was being touted by KVOD. Based on others experiences it won't be any better and will be a waste of money. Last weekend I went to three different electronic stores looking for information and pricing about HD radios. Only one clerk knew anything about them and she said they weren't very good according to the customers that brought them back. I appreciated her honesty.
Internet radio? Somewhat acceptable for when I'm in my office and at my computer, but what about late at night when I want to read in bed? I do have a small Nokia wireless tablet which I've made work with my local MP3 collection. But can I turn it on and instantly play something? Not way. Boot time is about 2 minutes. I then have to open a browser, wait for it find my wireless network and then go to the MP3 library and select something. I could buy a small portable PC and keep it always on sitting on my night stand, but I don't want to waste electricity nor spend more money just for classical music.
XM or Sirius satellite radio? Wow! What a deal. $100 for a "boom box" without receiver, $40 for the receiver, plus $40 for one for each car. Then it is only $13 a month for home plus $7 monthly for each car. What a deal! How can I miss!!! Sirius has 3 classical broadcast streams: symphonic and chamber music, Metropolitan opera radio, and classical pops. XM apparently has 3 similar offerings. With the proposed merger of XM and Sirius does that mean 6 or 3? Ask the FCC since I'm not interested in shelling out several hundred dollars a year to replace what I was getting for free for the last 60 years.
So what am I left with? A few MP3 players and my Cd's. Amazon's MP3 download library isn't bad, but how will I hear anything new or be exposed to unfamiliar composers or works? Just take some chances I guess at 99 cents a pop. While we do have classical music in Denver and Boulder, new works aren't performed much since they might drive away audiences.
I was going to end with RIP KVOD, but why give them the benefit of peace?
A letter to the editor to the Boulder Camera complained that even with a new pricey high definition radio KVOD didn't come in around Boulder. Then today a similar letter from a friend, Barry Knapp, pointed out that KVOD went from a 50 kilowatt transmitter for 90.1 MHz to a "puny" 1.2 kilowatt transmitter fpr 88.1 MHz. That's okay. Folks north of Denver didn't want to hear classical music or listen to the Metropolitan opera anyway. Boulder really only wants News! "News, News, News has a kind of mystery" sings Nixon in John Adams' "Nixon in China"
So it is with great regret that we bury KVOD and forget all about it. They took away contemporary classical music and now they've taken away all classical music. Who needs Bach and Beethoven and Mozart and Brahms and some of the other great composers? KVOD already stopped broadcasting Mahler and Bruckner and anyone who was foolish to compose music longer than about 25 minutes anyway. Colorado public radio wants News!! Forget the listening audience.
People have told me that I can always "listen" over the Internet. That just doesn't work in my car, of course. Nor is it convenient at night in my bedroom. I do sometimes listen from my desktop, but with Comcast being Comcast, I also get intermittent interruptions and dropped signals on my broadband connection. Frankly I don't want to replace the radios in my car nor in my home.
The radio was neat! You pressed a button and it instantly was played was was being broadcast. It was free except for the purchase of the radio. Now what are my choices?
Forget the high definition radio that was being touted by KVOD. Based on others experiences it won't be any better and will be a waste of money. Last weekend I went to three different electronic stores looking for information and pricing about HD radios. Only one clerk knew anything about them and she said they weren't very good according to the customers that brought them back. I appreciated her honesty.
Internet radio? Somewhat acceptable for when I'm in my office and at my computer, but what about late at night when I want to read in bed? I do have a small Nokia wireless tablet which I've made work with my local MP3 collection. But can I turn it on and instantly play something? Not way. Boot time is about 2 minutes. I then have to open a browser, wait for it find my wireless network and then go to the MP3 library and select something. I could buy a small portable PC and keep it always on sitting on my night stand, but I don't want to waste electricity nor spend more money just for classical music.
XM or Sirius satellite radio? Wow! What a deal. $100 for a "boom box" without receiver, $40 for the receiver, plus $40 for one for each car. Then it is only $13 a month for home plus $7 monthly for each car. What a deal! How can I miss!!! Sirius has 3 classical broadcast streams: symphonic and chamber music, Metropolitan opera radio, and classical pops. XM apparently has 3 similar offerings. With the proposed merger of XM and Sirius does that mean 6 or 3? Ask the FCC since I'm not interested in shelling out several hundred dollars a year to replace what I was getting for free for the last 60 years.
So what am I left with? A few MP3 players and my Cd's. Amazon's MP3 download library isn't bad, but how will I hear anything new or be exposed to unfamiliar composers or works? Just take some chances I guess at 99 cents a pop. While we do have classical music in Denver and Boulder, new works aren't performed much since they might drive away audiences.
I was going to end with RIP KVOD, but why give them the benefit of peace?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Death of the new......
Saturday nights at 10 was always a good time for me. KVOD, the Denver all-classical FM station, would broadcast two hours of 'contemporary' music' -- their definition. While sometimes it was only Prokofiev or Shostokovich or Copland, other times it would be Rautavaara or Kaipainen or Del Tredici. It was new music and I hadn't heard it and I liked that!
Reviewing my private library, I believe I've also heard music by the likes of Alwyn, Andriessen, Berio, Bolcom, Ciurlionis, Corigliano, Creston, Crumb, Diamond, Feldman, Golijov, Gorecki, Harvey, Henze, Higdon, Kancheli, Kernis, Laderman, Larsson, Lauridsen, Part, Reich, Riley, Rorem, Rouse, Sallinen, Salonen, Santos, Takemitsu and Varese during those late Saturday nights. I knew about some but hadn't heard much from them, others were completely new.
The announcer had interesting things to say. One sequence went through compositions from the 1940s, then the early 1950s, then late 50s. Centennials or deaths brought an entire evening of one composer, often with longer works that seem never to be played in normal hours. It was almost always interesting and challenging.
Sometimes after listening I would get on a kick and buy CDs by guys like Rautavaara. (What a great first name Einojuhani -- so much better than Sam or Robert or Arthur!) They might be good, sometimes not. Often the CD would also have something by another unknown. Again some good some bad, but fun listening to anyway. KVOD lead the way and I followed.
All that has changed. Now KVOD broadcasts on Saturday at 10 contemporary composers like Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Puccini and some seldom-heard pieces by the new guys Friedrich the Great and Ignace Pleyel. The two hours late on Saturday are now just like the remaining 166 hours each week. There's nothing to look forward to, nothing new and unknown. Just pap, pap, and more pap!
Who knows why KVOD changed its format? Perhaps they ran out of CDs, or, more likely, perception about the contemporary. Regardless, they've lost an interested listener.
Reviewing my private library, I believe I've also heard music by the likes of Alwyn, Andriessen, Berio, Bolcom, Ciurlionis, Corigliano, Creston, Crumb, Diamond, Feldman, Golijov, Gorecki, Harvey, Henze, Higdon, Kancheli, Kernis, Laderman, Larsson, Lauridsen, Part, Reich, Riley, Rorem, Rouse, Sallinen, Salonen, Santos, Takemitsu and Varese during those late Saturday nights. I knew about some but hadn't heard much from them, others were completely new.
The announcer had interesting things to say. One sequence went through compositions from the 1940s, then the early 1950s, then late 50s. Centennials or deaths brought an entire evening of one composer, often with longer works that seem never to be played in normal hours. It was almost always interesting and challenging.
Sometimes after listening I would get on a kick and buy CDs by guys like Rautavaara. (What a great first name Einojuhani -- so much better than Sam or Robert or Arthur!) They might be good, sometimes not. Often the CD would also have something by another unknown. Again some good some bad, but fun listening to anyway. KVOD lead the way and I followed.
All that has changed. Now KVOD broadcasts on Saturday at 10 contemporary composers like Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Puccini and some seldom-heard pieces by the new guys Friedrich the Great and Ignace Pleyel. The two hours late on Saturday are now just like the remaining 166 hours each week. There's nothing to look forward to, nothing new and unknown. Just pap, pap, and more pap!
Who knows why KVOD changed its format? Perhaps they ran out of CDs, or, more likely, perception about the contemporary. Regardless, they've lost an interested listener.
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