IF NOT 
US, THEN WHO? by Elizabeth Waterbury
Recently I found myself selecting literature for a proposed appearance at a regional conference. Like many of us, I have a Chamber Choir group who on a good day sings well enough to consider such a proposal. I thought carefully about what we might do, and even talked to some colleagues who have been in the inner workings of the organization. What kind of music should we present? I asked.
Finally all the pieces were selected, but one piece had me nervous. What would people think of my idea to program “Shöne Nacht” by Brahms? Might they think that I am being overly confident? Perhaps I should program something more “now”, something more blingy.
Based on the programs of the last conference I attended, I was fairly sure that the Brahms wouldn’t go over. Brahms and other “dead white guys” were somehow declassee. I felt that the selection of the Brahms piece would hurt our chances of being selected, rather than help it.
What does it say about our profession when a good college choir is afraid to show up at a conference singing Brahms? This is not to say that there isn’t value in the other music we hear, including multicultural and contemporary music. We are all on board with multi-cultural music and we adore our modern choral composers. Me included! That’s a silly point.
But when we are afraid to put Brahms on the program, and think seriously about replacing it with something flashier, it sounds as if we are willing to go along with the revisionist nonsense of dumping all the great music of the past.
If we don’t proudly sing Brahms and applaud one another for upholding our own traditions, then we can’t blame administrators and others for pressuring us to serve their political agendas instead of the choral art that we love.
(Today’s “Stick Time” column also speaks to this topic)
Dennis Malfatti says
Ronald Richard Duquette says