I am reading „The Classical Revolution“ by John Borstlap and think about it (9th and final part)
We have reached the end, my friends. The final chapter of Borstlap’s book!
Verschlagwortet: The Classical Revolution
I am reading „The Classical Revolution“ by John Bostlap and think about it (8)
This is my least favorite chapter of Borstlap’s book so far. Several times during reading I wanted to call out “but this is complete bullshit!” because of its po-faced preaching of a very vague “spirituality” of things and its depiction of contemporary times in the most simple of manners (Modernism and its ugly stepson Postmodernism are bad, New Classic is good, and there is not a lot else).
This is my least favorite chapter of Borstlap’s book so far. Several times during reading I wanted to call out “but this is complete bullshit!” because of its po-faced preaching of a very vague “spirituality” of things and its depiction of contemporary times in the most simple of manners (Modernism and its ugly stepson Postmodernism are bad, New Classic is good, and there is not a lot else).
I am reading „The Classical Revolution“ by John Borstlap and think about it (7)
And here we have it – a chapter in Borstlap’s book with which I cannot disagree on the whole. Probably because he talks only very little about music here.
Instead this is a mostly “kulturphilosophisches” essay, in fact the most “heavy” and difficult to read chapter so far, as it is about the underlying principles of European culture and the challenges it faces in the 21st century. Superficially this can be read as a traditionalist’s point of view and critique of the current state of affairs. But actually many of his opinions here are very level-headed, yes, dare I say “modern”, and I cannot help but agree with them on a very fundamental level.
I read the „Classical Revolution“ by John Borstlap and think about it (7)
In this chapter Borstlap describes his vision of a new “Renaissance” – a resurgence of classical values (therefore “Classical Revolution”, hohum) that will hopefully bring a new relevance to art.
I am reading John Borstlap’s „The Classical Revolution“ and think about it (6)
When reading the first three words of the chapter title I was under the impression that this chapter would be about contemporary music in brothels (something that has actually been done already if I remember correctly).
Sadly it is mostly about modern concert halls instead. And how Borstlap really, really dislikes their architecture.
I am reading „The Classical Revolution“ by John Borstlap and think about it (5)
This is Borstlap’s most controversial chapter so far. In German we would say “he pulls his pants down”, meaning that he is revealing his pet hatreds for certain composers (especially Boulez, who he constantly criticizes for being extremely shallow and simple while hiding it under a layer of clever wordplay). These are the most important concepts of this chapter in a nutshell:
I’m reading John Borstlap’s „The Classical Revolution“ and think about it (2)
I was astonished how much international resonance my last blog entry – the beginning of a commented reading of Borstlap’s much maligned book chapter by chapter – has created. Even though most comments I read condemned Borstlap’s critique of the “New Music Establishment” as laughable there seemed to be a hint at a bigger and perhaps even necessary discussion of the way arts and especially music are funded. Because I am interested in a more international opinion and perhaps even consensus on this I have decided to continue this series in English (perhaps as a little step towards an international edition of the Bad Blog Of Musick, which is something I always want to do but never get around doing sadly).
Ich lese „The Classical Revolution“ von John Borstlap und denke mir meinen Teil (1)
Seit einigen Monaten schon liegt ein Buch bei mir auf dem Schreibtisch, das mir freundlicherweise die NMZ-Redaktion geschickt hat, natürlich mit der Hoffnung, dass ich doch darüber schreiben möge. Und seit einigen Monaten schiebe ich das Lesen dieses Buches nun schon vor mir her. Warum?
