Music

Since its inception in 1969, the public television show has redefined what it means to teach children through TV, with music as its resounding voice. Before “Sesame Street,” it wasn’t even clear that you could do that; once the series began, as a radical experiment that joined educational research and social idealism with the lunacy of puppets and the buoyancy of advertising jingles, it proved that kids are very receptive to a grammar lesson wrapped in a song. – The New York Times

The singer reached an impass with her recording label, which owns masters of the original songs. So Swift says she’ll simply re-record them all so she has control. Travis Andrews untangles the copyright implications. – Washington Post

There are more and more outlets, but they pay writers less and less; there are huge quantities of new music pouring out, but large bodies of readers are going to click on pieces about artists they’ve already heard of; those famous artists have less and less time to make themselves available to journalists, whom they no longer need to reach their fans. Jeremy Gordon looks at this conundrum and seeks a way beyond it. – Columbia Journalism Review

“To say that Richard Strauss’s “Salome” is your favorite opera is a bit like saying that “The Shining” is your favorite film or that Edgar Allan Poe is your favorite author: it marks you as something of a freak.” – The New Yorker

Imagine if Hollywood were to issue shot-for-shot remakes of D.W. Griffith’s gauzy history of the Ku Klux Klan, “The Birth of a Nation ,” every few years. Imagine Tom Hanks re-creating Mickey Rooney’s infamously slant-eyed Mr. Yunioshi in a new “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” or Morgan Freeman cast in a live-action remake of Disney’s “Song of the South.” This is the reality of opera-house programming year after year. – Washington Post

The lockout began in May because there has been no musicians’ contract since January and management, which wants to end the orchestra’s year-round status and shut down during the summers, decided to cancel all this summer’s programming; the musicians wanted to play on and keep negotiating. But management’s stated intention has been to resume the orchestra’s activities with the start of the fall season — and now the musicians are saying they won’t play without a contract. – The Baltimore Sun

The music booms as people enter the rallies, and then candidates take the stage to a “walk-up” song that can become associated with their platforms. The New York Times analyzed playlists used by nine Democratic candidates and President Trump to see how they help set the tone for each campaign. – The New York Times

The work is the latest blow to the 10,000-hour rule, the idea promoted in Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book, Outliers, which has been taken to mean that enough practice will make an expert of anyone. In the book, Gladwell states that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness”. – The Guardian

“Here there’s a problem where even when the community values this, they think it’ll be supported by wealthy industrialists. But those days are over, and we need to say we’ve got a lot of wealth in this community. How can we get people to support the diversity of arts and communities? We need you to ante up.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The controversy at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival (aka Banglewood) in Massachusetts broke out over the use of didgeridoos in the 1990 work Thousand Year Dreaming by 80-year-old New Zealand-American composer Annea Lockwood. Several of the festival’s young Fellows raised concerns about Lockwood’s deployment of the indigenous Australian instrument, including, in this performance, its being played by women (traditionally taboo). But those concerns were not shared by everyone there. – New Sounds (WNYC)

The claim: The event takes up an incredible amount of time and money, and the symphony says “our understanding of our role in the community has begun to change.” Therefore, “the staff is evaluating [Free Music Day] and a lot of other programs to determine if they are the best offerings for listeners and performers.” – The Tennessean

Singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus: “Music is magic, yes, and many people use it as an outlet for their animal emotions, but I just wish people would let loose their feelings while still keeping their behavior under control.” (Examples of said behavior include a man chasing a musician down the street, screaming, “I would never chase you!”) – Nylon

No, really, go watch the crews move the wall – moved so more musicians could eventually fit on the stage-to-be – and enjoy: “It took about six hours for construction crews to move a seven-story 625-ton wall 35 feet that will eventually be part of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s new home.” – WTMJ-TV (Milwaukee)

The 9-year-old girl’s parents sued the State and Cathedral Choir of Berlin after her application was rejected, but the court ruled that “the acoustic pattern of a choir is part of its artistic freedom” and that a boys’ choir had a distinct sound. – Deutsche Welle

The music, to be released in September, was the Coltrane Quartet’s soundtrack to the French Canadian film Le chat dans le sac (The Cat in the Bag), which is available online now. “Coltrane hadn’t seen a cut of the film when he recorded the soundtrack, which — probably due in equal part to Groulx’s taste and the onus of licensing — consists of new versions of prior material.” – NPR

Beethoven’s political engagement is indisputable, but whether it finds direct expression in his work – aside from dedications and commissions – is a sticky topic. – New Statesman

The project reached its crescendo, transitioning from theoretical to actual, last month when the Port of San Diego agreed to lease a 3.68-acre site on Embarcadero Marina Park to the symphony for up to 50 years. The agreement was the last regulatory action needed for the symphony’s long-planned outdoor facility, which will serve as the permanent home of the Bayside Summer Nights concert series. – San Diego Union-Tribune

A big part of the 1969 festival’s legend is that no one involved had any idea how big it was going to get and how many people would show up, and the organizers were utterly unprepared. “Woodstock was saved at every step of the way by decidedly non-groovy regular people” — from Max Yasgur, the law-and-order Republican who rented his farm to the festival at the last minute, to the citizens of Bethel, NY who hard-boiled hundreds of thousands of eggs and sent canned goods when organizers ran out of food on the second day. – The Washington Post

The one art form that interests Mr. Trump is the art of the deal, though the book about it published under his byline was ghostwritten by someone else. Its only reference to music is hostile: “I punched my music teacher,” Mr. Trump recalls, “because I didn’t think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled.” – Baltimore Sun

“It may now seem inevitable that the world’s most glamorous conductor ended up leading what may be the world’s most admired orchestra, that a young Latin American hero would settle in a Latino-majority city that likes to tell itself it will never grow old. But it could have just as easily not happened at all.” – Los Angeles Magazine

Mark Swed: “The ramifications are considerable. If proved true, the allegations would be a tragic ending to one of the great careers in the history of opera, a tenor and now baritone who has sung more roles than any other, as well as a conductor, opera administrator and celebrity. It would also be a sad revelation about the catalyst and voice of opera in Los Angeles.” – Los Angeles Times

Alex Ross: “A master of late-Romantic opulence, Korngold shaped the sonic texture of Golden Age Hollywood. To say that his work sounds like movie music is an elementary fallacy, a confusion of cause and effect.” – The New Yorker

This year there will be roughly 100 large, multi-day events—attended by more than 10,000 people each—around the United States. Live Nation, the concert and festival promoter, is now arguably the most important firm in the music industry, with more revenues than most traditional record labels. It owns four of the five largest festivals. AEG, the sports and entertainment company, owns two others. – CityLab

From 2013 to 2017, the number of orchestras in China leaped from 32 to 82. In 2019, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 140th season, and the orchestra, along with its conductor, was recently signed to the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label for a multi-year deal. – Ludwig Van

The company, which will “retain outside counsel” to look into the accusations, said in a statement that Domingo “has been a dynamic creative force in the life of LA Opera and the artistic culture of Los Angeles for more than three decades. Nevertheless, we are committed to doing everything we can to foster a professional and collaborative environment where all our employees and artists feel equally comfortable, valued and respected.” – Los Angeles Times