{"id":1894,"date":"2010-09-10T09:38:26","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T08:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/?p=1894"},"modified":"2010-09-15T15:50:18","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T14:50:18","slug":"turn-it-up-jonathan-harvey-on-concert-audiences-and-amplification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/2010\/09\/10\/turn-it-up-jonathan-harvey-on-concert-audiences-and-amplification\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn it up: Jonathan Harvey on concert audiences and amplification"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent article<\/a>, composer Jonathan Harvey<\/a> proposes abandoning the idea of conventional audience behaviour at concert halls, in a bid to attract younger audiences.<\/p>\n

\"JonathanI\u2019ve written previously<\/a> about expected audience behaviour, as it\u2019s important to make music accessible to everyone without burying it beneath all manner of stultifying conventions that will almost certainly put people off, especially younger audiences who are potentially the Ticket-buyers of Tomorrow. The almost religious state of obeisance required to sit still and attentively through classical repertoire is alien to those who attend jazz gigs and rock concerts. Clap in the wrong place during a symphony, and you\u2019re greeted with icy stares or patronising glances: clap after a particularly fine instrumental improvisation at a jazz gig, the musicians will nod their thanks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvey advocates amplifying music in performance, standard practice in rock and jazz gigs but greeted with a sharp intake of breath at classical concerts.<\/p>\n

“There is a big divide between amplified and non-amplified music. The future must bring things that are considered blasphemous, like amplifying classical music in an atmosphere where people can come and go \u2026 and certainly leave in the middle of a movement if they feel like it.”<\/p>\n

Leave in the middle if they feel like it <\/em>? Blasphemous indeed, perhaps \u2013 to some. But precisely this premise was part of Einstein on the Beach<\/a><\/em> by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson \u2013 written in 1976, the opera lasts for around five hours, and consists of nine scenes linked by short interludes known as \u2018Knee Plays;\u2019 there is no plot, and the audience members are free to enter and leave when they wish.<\/p>\n

Harvey has composed in the electro-acoustic field as well as traditional choral and instrumental works: Le Tombeau de Messiaen<\/a><\/em> is composed for piano and tape; \u00a0Mortuos Plango, Vivos Vocos<\/a><\/em> whizzes the tenor bell of Winchester Cathedral and voice of a boy soprano (Harvey\u2019s son) around in space, whilst Speakings<\/a> <\/em>portrays the birth, development and establishment of language and is written for orchestra and live electronics.\u00a0 His choral compositions range from the dancing Virgo Virginum<\/em> to the beguiling mesmerism of The Angels.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n