Accessible Music?
Accessible Music?
by Charles Coleman
Since the beginning of my compositional career, I've always had an unusual
problem with the word "accessible". For me, this word seems to be nothing
more than an opinion which is "masked" as fact, and can be manipulated by
certain agenda driven people to thrust their own cause and attempt to
damage other expressions of thought at the same time. This kind of tactic, I
feel, is an absolute detriment to any free thinking society.
I recently read a review of a recording containing the Violin Concerto by
Arnold Schöenberg. This reviewer, who shall remain nameless, states in his
critique that for anyone to like this piece, depends on "how hard you, the
listener, feels like working, and how much the performance rewards your
time and effort." The reviewer goes on to say that if you are new to this
piece, then you should "start with the finale. It contains several memorable
tunes and motives that recur with relative frequency, in a clear march
rhythm."
After reading this, I was predictably annoyed. It is a tale I've heard before,
many times. The theory that an "accessible" piece is primarily simple with a
tuneful nature, and a piece that's not so "accessible" is much more complex
and requires work from the listener in order to be enjoyed. Quite frankly, I
find this argument utterly ridiculous! I can respect this critic in his attempt
to influence the listener into buying the recording, but I believe his tactics to
be a form of unnecessary "toilet training" for people that already have a
decent head on their shoulders.
It is clear to me that all the great composers regardless of what musical
"language" they utilize, have an innate ability to take his or her materials
they come up with in their dreams, and then carefully develop these
materials into wonderful pieces of music which any listener, at the very
least, can feel in their soul. This issue alone makes the concept of "simple"
and "complex" irrelevant. A great composer's work transcends those petty
words.
There is truly an inner spirit within a great opus of any style which is a blend
of the composer's otherworldly talent, along with the circumstances he or
she is living through at the time, and the disciplined effort to make it all
work. No matter how different the composers like Bach, Beethoven, Ives,
Ellington, Adams and Prince are from each other, they all have this same
aforementioned qualities that make them who they are, tune or no tune.
These greats, like many others, have done all the work so that you, the
listeners, do not have to.
This is the way it's supposed to be. Listening is an illuminating and soul
touching experience, not work. One should simply let the music flow through
the body and it would do it's magic. Of course, there are numerous benefits
and pleasures in hearing a piece more than once, but one would be normally
doing it anyway because he or she got something out of it the first time
around, not because they hope they'll "get it" after hearing it a few more
times, due to their personal insecurities of not being "cultured" enough.
The fact is, accessible pieces of music are numerous in their sounds, styles
and expressions, large and small. And they all sound fantastic!
It's as simple as that.