My, I somehow got it into my head your boy was 14-15ish. How time flies (grin). His group sounds quite interesting, enjoyable.
I am in Washington with some frequency and like you must spend my time there carefully. But, if I find the Chorus an exceptional group, I will make it a priority. Frankly, I have not heard much about it and scarcely expect to find it anything more than a mediocre second or third tier choral group.
I have little problem with the decadent aristocratic Rococo character of older artistic sensibility. Legitimate market forces brought that sensibility into existence and supported it. And when we consider the nature of those times I think we can easily conclude there was quite a bit of individualism and inventiveness to be had within the artistic boundaries then present.
But of course not enough for today. To impose the old boundaries on our modern times would be stultifying because unlike the old masters we now know the exciting possibilities to be had. Matisse, Picasso, Pollock, DeKooning and the like showed us the way and as a result all sorts of new and brilliant creations have come forth. A year from now I will perhaps explore other aspects of modern art, but what I now find particularly fascinating is the modern use of color. Some modern artists have discovered ways to nearly give life to color in ways the old masters simply never could have conceived.
Nevertheless I really don’t care to compare the two groups, except to say I have for too long focused on the masters and now eagerly look forward to more of today’s artists. (Wish I could say the same for music. I happily remain with the old masters and turn a hairy eye against most, but not all, modern music. I long for the time when modern musicians, including pop artists, will seek to express themselves in longer, more complex phrases and grander forms — rather than the current repetitive one bar phrases that border on minimalism. I did an analysis of the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” when that ditty was popular [took me all of a eight seconds], and my friends were shocked to find they had been jamming essentially to one bar of “music” and a bass part that consisted literally of two notes. I simply am not impressed by this kind of junk. Beethoven offers far more variety, complexity and fire.)
Hope you see "Pollock" sometime. I too am a fan of his work-- but not of his life (which is why I am reticent to see the film). |
