Let's Support New Music
I am a strong advocate of new music and principally the works of little known composers and performers. By ‘new music’ I mean not only music that is completely new today but also music that has been created over the last 25 years or so, whether in the west or elsewhere.
It’s self-evident that in the mainstream media the focus is almost exclusively on western music from the so-called ‘Common Practice Period’ (approximately 1600 – 1910). The arguments often put forward in support of this are that people don’t like or understand new music and are in any event unfamiliar with it. It’s true that some of this music is very inaccessible, especially some (but not all) atonal or serial music but that is only a minority of the modern repertoire.
Today there is so much exciting, vibrant, innovative and accessible new music being written, whether in orchestral, instrumental or vocal genres, and unquestionably it deserves far greater exposure than it currently receives. As for the argument that people are not familiar with it, well that’s hardly surprising if it’s rarely played: people can only respond to the music that they hear and currently they are fed a very conservative diet.
In order to play a part, however small, in promoting new music, I have devoted a section of this site exclusively to the subject. The intention is to run features and articles promoting new works and commenting generally on the genre. You can check out the pages by clicking here:
