“On Alienation of Audiences was the title of an article in the January issue of the Choral Journal, I read this excellent piece with great interest but I have to admit that at the end I was still not sure whether Professor Hilbrich was for or against alienation of audiences. While as a composer I can only applaud his plea for more and better contemporary music on choral programs, I must say, with all respect to the seriousness of his intentions and the skill of his argument, that I believe if certain of his ideas are not qualified they could alienate everyone in sight – audiences, singers and eventually composers.
It is no small thing to be a musician. One who brings beauty, delight and understanding to his fellow men is fulfilling not a lower but a higher purpose than “representing twentieth century values and aesthetics” (whatever those are). There is a limit to what even music can do. Let us simply write, teach and perform the most honest, profound, beautiful and yes, entertaining music we can, both old and new, and the twentieth century values and aesthetics will take care of themselves.
What is “entertainment” anyway? Are Brahms’ Liebeslieder entertainment are they “learned?” Beethoven’s and Schiller’s Ode to Joy? Shakespeare’s comedies, Bergman’s movies? How about madrigals of both the sixteenth and twentieth centuries? Entertainment is whatever “engages and pleasantly occupies our attention.” Would we rather our music did not engage our listener’s attention, or that it be unpleasant? The fact that we sometimes want more profound experiences should not lead us to turn our values upside down by assigning a negative value to a very positive quality.
Judith Gary says