I don't see how they can with most of my pieces, but I think it's unfortunate that they can through familiarity with flashy performances of a great deal of other music.
From Peter Maxwell Davies
But you can't really know your audiences so well.
I know what I want at least, and the older I get I think I'm better at getting it out of players and singers.
But when you get a bit older, and I hate to use the word, quite a bit more established, people take more notice and conducting becomes a great deal easier. You don't have battles like you had before.
I'm very interested, for instance, in music in education - getting young people not only to listen to, but participate in the music that I write. I consider this one of the most vital aspects of my work.
I'm not actually teaching any more, but I am writing pieces for schools all the time, and for kids.
At the moment, in Britain we're facing such enormous cutbacks in education programs and music programs and art programs that you feel you are knocking your head against a brick wall.
The establishment in Britain is certainly against the arts and against education. If something doesn't make a profit, it's invalid, and art doesn't make a profit in that sense.
Recently I've been participating in radio and television talk programs doing broadcasts and conferences, and shooting my mouth off and really going to town.
An audience shouldn't listen with complacency.
3 perspectives
2 perspectives
1 perspectives