• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • The Unanswered Question
    • Joseph Horowitz
  • Contact
  • ArtsJournal
  • AJBlogs

Unanswered Question

Joe Horowitz on music

Uncategorized

Music from Paradise

April 9, 2019 by Joe Horowitz 2 Comments

Claude Debussy wrote: “But my poor friend! Do you remember the Javanese music, able to express every shade of meaning, even unmentionable shades which make our tonic and dominant seem like ghosts? . . . Their school consists of the eternal rhythm of the sea, the wind in the leaves, and a thousand other tiny noises . . . that force one to admit that our own music is not much … [Read more...] about Music from Paradise

Mark Twain, Charles Ives, and Race

April 3, 2019 by Joe Horowitz Leave a Comment

In the current issue the quarterly review Raritan, I write that Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 2 “are twin American cultural landmarks, comparable in method and achievement.”  They both transform a hallowed Old World genre – the novel, the symphony -- through recourse to New World vernacular speech. To read the whole piece, … [Read more...] about Mark Twain, Charles Ives, and Race

Did Wagner Exploit King Ludwig?

March 5, 2019 by Joe Horowitz Leave a Comment

Did Wagner exploit King Ludwig? In Luchino Visconti’s magnificent four-hour film Ludwig, the king is ingeniously cast as an embodiment of the Wagnerian pariah; Visconti has transformed Ludwig’s story into a veritable homage to Richard Wagner. Is Visconti’s Ludwig a credible re-enactment of history? Doubtless it could be considered a whitewash job. But not be me. Wagner … [Read more...] about Did Wagner Exploit King Ludwig?

Dvorak, Harry Burleigh, and Cultural Appropriation — a “PostClassical” Podcast

February 24, 2019 by Joe Horowitz Leave a Comment

Could Harry Burleigh -- Antonin Dvorak’s African-American assistant -- be considered an Uncle Tom? These days, the question comes up whenever Burleigh comes up: it’s a symptom of the times, and of our crazy obsession with “cultural appropriation.” And it is addressed head-on over the course of the most recent PostClassical Ensemble WWFM podcast, featuring a supreme … [Read more...] about Dvorak, Harry Burleigh, and Cultural Appropriation — a “PostClassical” Podcast

Lou Harrison and The Great American Piano Concerto — Reprised

February 8, 2019 by Joe Horowitz 2 Comments

Eight years ago, on the occasion of PostClassical Ensemble’s first performance of Lou Harrison’s Piano Concerto with Benjamin Pasternack as soloist, I wrote in this space: “The music of Lou Harrison represents a rare opportunity for advocacy. To begin with, he is unquestionably a major late 20th-century composer, and yet little-known. Also, he is both highly accessible and … [Read more...] about Lou Harrison and The Great American Piano Concerto — Reprised

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About Joe Horowitz

Joseph Horowitz is an award-winning author, concert producer, film-maker, broadcaster, and pianist/composer. He is one of the most prominent and widely published writers on topics in American music. As an orchestral administrator and advisor, he has been a pioneering force in the development of … [more] about Joseph Horowitz

About Unanswered Question

When a few years ago Doug McLennan invited me to write an ArtsJournal blog, I thought about it and said no. Having been born as long ago as 1948, I remain somewhat a stranger to the internet. And, as I am always writing a book (a form of therapy) when I am not producing concerts, I felt I didn't … [more] about The Unanswered Question

Subscribe to Joe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 254 other subscribers

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Richard Voorhaar on Will Europeans Curate Our Receding Cultural Past?
  • Rick Benjamin on Will Europeans Curate Our Receding Cultural Past?
  • Brooks on Will Europeans Curate Our Receding Cultural Past?
  • Robert Berger on “A Service to the Nation” — The University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra Tours South Africa
  • Ariel on “A Tale of Two Cities” — Music and Race in Boston and New York

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in