Editor,
What separates the good from the great in contemporary music? What and who makes the standard of quality for us to listen to and enjoy? Chris Rountree, founding conductor and creative director of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra and a guest speaker at the Woman’s Club last week, wove a tight web around contemporary music of our day and how it relates to becoming great classical music and standing the test of time.
New philosophical ground was undertaken by the Woman’s Club, which sponsored the program put on by Laguna Beach Live and its president, Cindy Prewitt.
There was a wonderful crowd of 40 men and woman eager to hear this often discussed standard of what makes some new music survive in the cultural repertoire while others just disappear after a few performances. Chris tried to enthusiastically answer this perplexing question. Dissonance was the quality that some people find unpleasant while others, many of whom were in the audience, find it extremely intellectually stimulating. These enlightened and enriched listeners were a delight to behold in the Laguna Beach audience because Chris’ presentation was a very pleasant insight to them with their former knowledge and appreciation.
Seemingly far from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, traces of dissonances can be seen developing with Beethoven’s impending deafness. But these are understandable under his circumstances. But why then are the dissonances of today’s music–the wild tones on the trombones and horns, the eerie sounds from the woodwinds, vocal squeals of anguish from nowhere — the mark of some well accepted contemporary music of today. And music that’s lasting.
I suppose there could be many reasons, the first of which is music reflects life. Life is full of dissonance today, clashes on the tympani, brashness from the sweet woodwinds, brassy confusion from the trumpets etc. All these sounds reverberate as reflections of our times. To the untrained year they can be total confusion and not what we want music to be. But to the trained ear and lifelong intellectual musician these sounds are so different and challenging both to play and perform that they meet every emotional satisfaction one can imagine.
Dissonance both loud and soft is cherished, hidden humor to the untrained ear is revered, flamboyant instrumentation, and hopefully traces of quiet and calm could create a hit forever to be enjoyed by the chosen few.
Carol Reynolds, Laguna Beach
