Here's something you might be interested in.
On Friday evening, The Grossmont Symphony put together a solid concert of 20th Century music. The theme was "I am woman" and the opening piece of music was Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1 by Joan Tower.
This fanfare is a nice piece of music but besides the title, I'm not sure what makes it feminine. In choosing her title, Tower has linked her piece to Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Who amongst us isn't going to immediately compare the two?
There is no comparing the quality of the music. Copland's Fanfare will forever be a singular piece of American music. What I was hoping to find in Tower's music was a distinction between masculine and feminine. I wanted a glorification of the feminine.
What we got was a more complex version of masculine music.
I think our society is lacking the essential feminine virtues that can help create balance. I wanted to hear a piece of music that went in a different direction from Copland's.
Tower's effort appeared to be competing with Copland from her choice of instrumentation, the opening timpani blasts, and all the way down to her tongue-in-cheek title.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this music and I enjoyed the brass and percussion of The Grossmont Symphony.
The glorification of the feminine would make an appearance later that evening.
Pictured: Joan Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FileyyXWlU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHAL4saaI&feature=related
On Friday evening, The Grossmont Symphony put together a solid concert of 20th Century music. The theme was "I am woman" and the opening piece of music was Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1 by Joan Tower.
This fanfare is a nice piece of music but besides the title, I'm not sure what makes it feminine. In choosing her title, Tower has linked her piece to Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Who amongst us isn't going to immediately compare the two?
There is no comparing the quality of the music. Copland's Fanfare will forever be a singular piece of American music. What I was hoping to find in Tower's music was a distinction between masculine and feminine. I wanted a glorification of the feminine.
What we got was a more complex version of masculine music.
I think our society is lacking the essential feminine virtues that can help create balance. I wanted to hear a piece of music that went in a different direction from Copland's.
Tower's effort appeared to be competing with Copland from her choice of instrumentation, the opening timpani blasts, and all the way down to her tongue-in-cheek title.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this music and I enjoyed the brass and percussion of The Grossmont Symphony.
The glorification of the feminine would make an appearance later that evening.
Pictured: Joan Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FileyyXWlU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHAL4saaI&feature=related