Today’s Times has a story by Vivien Schweitzer about Paul Jacobs, the 30 year old chairman of Juilliard’s organ program who, in his early 20’s, performed marathon concerts of the complete works of Bach and Messiaen. He has some interesting things to say about the organ’s forgotten place in music, as well as the general state of American culture.
"Ours is a culture that wants everything to be easily digestible, but to fully appreciate a Bach fugue, you have to be able to hear contrapuntally, and this takes work. I’m tired of a culture that devalues music and has no desire to understand it more intimately. And the void has been filled by parasites in the entertainment industry.” (referring specifically to shows like American Idol)
He also points out that New York is the only U.S. city with a major orchestra not to have an organ in it’s concert hall. (Make that two concert halls.) If you’d like to hear more, Jacobs will be giving free daytime talks tomorrow and on April 9 at Juilliard.
Also, a reminder that the MATA Festival kicks off tonight at the Brooklyn Lyceum at 8p. Feel free to stop by and say hello: I’ll be the one taking notes in the back.