Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One of the main focuses of the blm movement is to bring “justice” to people of African descent. Their main targets are the trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonial empires. Part of blm’s idea of “justice” is to attack Western historical heritage and memory. At first, the main targets of blm activists’ wrath were figures like Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. It then branched out to American presidents associated with slavery. But as the Telegraph article demonstrates, the scope has widened. Now, anything to do with Western cultural heritage is considered “fair game.”
But consider this: Many of the most celebrated composers had nothing to do with the trans-Atlantic slave trade or colonization of Africa. Neither did their home countries. Austria—the home of Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and others—never once had a colony in Africa. Neither (aside from a weird episode in 1889) did Russia—the land of Sergei Prokofiev and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. George Gershwin, Felix Mendelssohn and others were Jews—a race facing persecution far longer than colonial Africans.
Yes, by all means, let's cancel 3,000 plus years of Western Culture, and replace it with what?
Oh, I see, perhaps the "culture" of sub-Saharan Africa, a vast repository of amazing achievements
They must have gotten bored with trashing the founding fathers....
The folks looking to tear down western culture and civilization as we know it are really good at destroying stuff... But what do they intend to replace it with? Is there any kind of woke equivalent to Verdi that we can have a listen to???
Quote:
Originally Posted by saltine
The 'special needs' crowd should not be catered to
Hey now... Biden's diaper isn't going to change itself you know...
Western classical music has gone through various stylistic inceptions for many centuries now. It's been in existence since the polyphonies of the early Renaissance era with Josquin des Prez's motets; this at a time when Europe was the one being occupied by foreign empires in the form of the Ottomans, the Granada Emirate in southern Spain, and the Turko-Mongolian Golden Horde in eastern Europe.
These people seem to want to attach the degradative label of 'racist' to anything that has to do with what is deemed historic Western culture.
Music should be consumed in context like all art, and none should be lost. Despite what I have read from time to time here on C-D. I think there i no conflict between acknowledging cultural traditions that have been ignored while retaining those that have not. I do find it is little funny that classical music finds so many defenders now when in my day, when I was a decent violinist playing classical pieces, classics music had an image of being "elitist" etc. I am happy for all attention classical music gets since it doesn't seem to get much. I hope we use this moment to expand what we listen to, not restrict it.
But there is something to be said about Western classical music being "standardized" as the default reference. This isn't particular to one culture per se, but the dominant one. For example, there's no apparent reason that 4/4 is any more a "standard" time signature than, say, 3/4.
This is more of an academic argument than a political one. But as the black hole of politics expands infinitely, it eats everything in sight.
One more thing. Classical music fans ("connoisseurs") as a group are the snobbiest, most elitist, gatekeep-ish, insufferable people I've ever met. And I say this as a classical music fan.
None of that was any of the focus of BLM. Never was, never will be, BLMs 15 minutes are over.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
