Most music is only meant for a certain group of people

Back in 2016 I recounted how I was impressed and moved by Anna Thorvaldsdottir's In the Light of Air. Recently I have been similarly impressed and moved by her Archora and Aion performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eva Ollikainen. Anna Thorvaldsdottir's music combines the two essential of being both accessible and challenging. And, sadly, it is that challenge that probably explains why her music has failed to gain the traction it deserves in todays comfort zone-delimited culture.   

Today it is perfectly acceptable, no praiseworthy - for classical music and other great art to be tailored to the needs of the lowest common denominator. It is less acceptable - no politically incorrect - to echo Benjamin Britten's credo that "Music demands ... some preparation, some effort". So, at the risk of once again being politically incorrect, I reprise the words of another great under-appreciated woman musician, Alice Coltrane. This quote comes from an interview with her in the Detroit Free Press in May 1980, It is so relevant not just to Anna Thorvaldsdottir's music, but to the whole lost art of challenging the listener. 

Most music is only meant for a certain group of people. It depends on your development. Not just musically but in everyway. When your mind and soul express a need for higher things - more challenging things - then you will be able to get out of any musical experience everything the artist is trying to convey.

Comments

Tom said…
Both you and Alice could not be more spot on.
10:03 pm
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