Glee

Greg Sandow had an amazing post today about Glee, and exactly what it has that classical music lacks (directness/inclusiveness et al). Glee isn't a perfect show, but yes, I do watch it reasonably often. I usually love the verbal jousting a lot more than the music, but I still think that a lot of the music is very well-done. But there were two things got to me about this post.

1. The fact that I didn't get to arrange 'The Living Years' when we still had VoW is probably a regret I'm going to have for decades....really.

2. The reason that Classical Music does not have much relevance to contemporary reality is - sadly - exactly that. Classical music doesn't have much relevance to contemporary reality. The only way to fix that is to build the bridge to modern life ourselves. And that means bringing different types of music together in ways that show more people that this is great music like any other great music. It means showing how Bach can illuminate Bjork and vice-versa and how both of them can be related to some local songwriter/composer who only gets exposure in the local coffeehouse. It means creating new music with content directly related to both the present and the past. The fact that it all seems so obvious (at least to me) is exactly why it's akin to moving a mountain. I shudder to think of how possible it is that none of us may live to see the day when preserving music of the past is just as important as supporting music of the present, but it doesn't mean that any of us should ever stop trying.