Politic

If you are not interested in music politics, don't read the text below!
And if you do care about the future for classical music, the following might well be upsetting or depressing, depending on your background!

The future

What about the future? I'm afraid it looks very bleak indeed. An unfortunately enlightening example is the following: the former political head of the cultural department in Sollentuna once suggested the replacement of all the artists in the Amorina Recitals with students from the Conservatory. Might I add, without consulting me. The only important argument seemed to be the fact that the series would have been much cheaper to produce, thereby saving the taxpayers some 20.500 Euros that they were putting into it. Today, we can see that this idea of students playing concerts has been realized. In Sollentuna today you can only listen to concerts with students from the Conservatory together with local musicians at the best equalling a good teacher’s level of expertise. To be fair, at least once or twice a year, there might be noteworthy exceptions to this rule.
A critical (but flawed) decision that the local politicians use to stop further professional music activities is: "adults should pay for their own cultural activities". Staging a classical music concert is always going to yield a loss, but in the same way a library will never be profitable. Unfortunately this political decision only applies to music! There are at least two art galleries for adults supported by the Sollentuna municipality, and there are several libraries with departments for adults. So why treat music differently? I tried to get an answer to that question from the head of the current municipal executive board but, of course, none was given.
In Stockholm as a whole, there are no real music stores left – even the last piano shop was closed during 2005. (But, there could be some thin light in the tunnel? After some years of absence, two shops have opened in 2008). The piano has generally been treated badly in music schools for decades, and indeed it is the first instrument to be subjected to cutbacks. Some music schools have now existed completely without it for many years! In my opinion, the trend unfortunately points in one direction only.
Our last piano factory, Nordiska Pianofabriken, closed their doors in 1984. A 235 year long tradition in Sweden (1750–1984) of making keyboard instruments was over. When we in Sweden are discussing how to develop the cultural life of other countries, more than keeping what's left of our own Western European culture heritage, they take our culture seriously. In Sweden and other Western European countries classical music will probably grow into an underground cult and will only survive in small, private societies. One could perhaps call it an inverted "cultural revolution" in Sweden, but realized with a democratic foundation …

This picture is from a four-colour booklet which was distributed among the households in Akalla,
Husby and Kista. It serves as a reminder of the hubris afflicting those in charge of arts policies.

I used to point towards Kista Centre (very close to Sollentuna) and announce to all Amorina artists: "This is the new Florence, at least according to politicians and officials in the local community!" Not surprisingly, each and every one of these visiting artists looked very surprised by what I meant! In my mind, there is no doubt that Kista Mall and the many computer business buildings will be long gone and forgotten 300 to 500 years from now. No one will look for the artistic expression in these buildings; not one of these constructions will be remembered as a beautiful construction, and there will be no story to tell about the thriving and exciting cultural life taking place behind the walls!

It’s important to remember that the Medici’s employed "the very best" in all forms of art arts and gave them practical and economical opportunities to create. Here you could find both Raphael, da Vinci, there was an orchestra, they employed architects, had several instrument makers in their services – one of which became the father of the piano – and much much more. There is no such thing as an Art Gallery of any kind of quality in Kista, in the Mall itself there is none. The music, when there is such a rare event as a classical music concert, is performed mainly by students from the Conservatory in a small church outside the Mall. It's a sad state of affairs when the local government displays such hubris in combination with both cultural and historical ignorance.

How can the negative trend be changed?

A change would take place if TV on a regular basis presented classical music in its prime time programmes, for example programmes like the news or the "entertainment shows". Today you get close to nothing of classical music, especially not when it comes to instrumental artists. Not even when an artist is the recipient of the high-profile "Polar Music-Prize" – with one award each for classical music and for popular music – does TV even bother to discuss or sometimes even mention the classical music winner. I have had several students who didn't know that there were in fact two prize winners, not one. This type of neglect bounds on nothing less than contempt for classical music, and cannot be in line with any official policy regulating public sponsored television.
Another and more sinister example of the mistreatment of classical music, is the surprisingly well publicized 2005 TV series “Klassiska typer” (roughly translated "Classical types"). It was supposed to tackle common prejudices concerning classical music, but did nothing to help the situation. To show how much Bach supposedly hated Jews and to find "evidence" for that in his music, or to compare some of the great conductors like Karajan and Bernstein (who had larger than life charisma), with Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, will only add to the large degree of prejudice already existing. In the one of programs the topic was the so-called positive effect (on musicians) of an orchestra without the "oppressive conductor". The proof for this was a much discussed Soviet orchestra during the early revolutionary years. If one checks the sources properly – especially artists freed from the repression – there are several testimonies of the poor quality of this ensemble. Both Horowitz and Rachmaninov mentions the bad playing. Another striking omission in the programme regarding this ensemble is the irrefutable fact of the so-called Haas effect: if you sit further than 7 meters away from another person, it's impossible to play in sync since the sound arrives too late for you to react to it on time. You need an conductor to keep the music together!
Another instalment in this sadly biased and ill-informed series implied that improvised music should be regarded as truer and freer than notated music. This only shows how little these people understand of this complex matter. Suggesting this is analogous to claiming that any off-the-cuff story is more interesting than the great novels of our culture. Anyone who is involved in improvisation knows that "the inspired moment" needs preparation; the less pre-planning involved in the actual performance the less the novel touches. Mozart’s astonishing ability of writing down music "on the spur of the moment" was in fact a showcase for his ability to compose in his head. Bach’s greatest works didn’t derive from his amazing improvisational talent, but from arduous work. And what about poor Beethoven? His struggles to find the exact right notes are well documented. These achievements are not based on improvisations, but that was not something you’d gather watching this deplorable "documentary". To further have an uncritical view that "an instrumentalist's view" of music is at it best "naive", is pure nonsense.

There has also been a substantial change in the way journalists approach classical music. Or rather, it’s the obvious lack of interest that is apparent. The trend in the papers to blend popular culture with the arts especially weakens the position of classical music. To put it bluntly: classical culture needs something like the lavish shows and constant media exposure of popular culture. This would be the only way to make classical musicians seen and have them become a substantial part of the mainstream. "If you are not seen, then you do not exist", as the proverb says. Can you think of any recent TV program presenting a classical instrumentalist discussing his or her latest CD? If young people do not have persons that will serve as role models for them, how will they ever become interested in anything else but popular culture?

Music education is another major problem. To remedy this would take a political decision of seismic proportions that no politician I know of would dare to promote. I strongly believe that one has to separate general music education in normal schools from instrumental education in music schools.

My firm belief is that the instrumental education at music schools should only serve the students who have a genuine wish to learn to play an instrument. Lesson length, for example, should be at least 45 minutes instead of the measly 15–20 minutes common today. To devote this little time to each student is nothing less than a mockery of the idea of teaching the art of instrumental playing. The implications of this policy are also truly damaging to high quality instrumental education. To further enhance quality, entrance exams should be established, and grade levels similar to the English "Grade Levels" should be introduced.
Over the 25-year period of my career at the music school I've seen the students’ abilities and accomplishments dropping each year. Even more alarming is the fact that this is also true for the teachers’ level of competence.
The headmaster at my last workplace wanted to change the educational practice so that every lesson would be conducted in groups. This idea is based on the need to accommodate the excessive number of students allowed to enter the classes. Even more disturbing is that this promotes a social rather than an artistic attitude towards culture. This leads to a situation where the teachers have to adapt to the lowest level in the group.
But then one has missed the point of serious music completely: it’s not a democratic forum nor a social event. Serious music concerns something much deeper than sitting around a fire, playing and singing a song. It has do to with the existence of human beings, the search for profound values and the beauty of nature. And these are not the qualities fostered by an entertainment and primarily social way of viewing the arts or the world.

These ideas are VERY controversial in Sweden, and uttering them in a public forum borders on criminal behaviour. I will probably get quite a few angry mails. But, before writing any comment, please answer this much more interesting question first: What would you do to save music life here in Sweden so that, for instance, there is a chance for the survival of amateur orchestras and that classical music will have an audience in the future? I’d be very interested in reading an answer to THAT.

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