on the subject of the DG masthead, many many independent record covers have stolen the DG logo outright over the years, without event. I think the recent acquisition by Universal might have more to do with their bizarre move of squashing a CD pressing of 1,000 copies. I’m sad to read the posts upthread from people who consider Universal within rights on this one — legally, yes, morally I’d hope the question was obviously still open

the CD itself is wonderful listening. I’m sure all of us have at times wished to have recordings of a particularly good rehearsal or warmup, particularly with 20th century pieces where a composition’s structure is so much looser — a symphony warming up for an Ives or Varese piece often sounds like an extra piece by the same composer, and the same symphony warming up for Beethoven will often then… sound like Ives taking on Beethoven. I envy the archivist working for the San Francisco Symphony, I’ve got a feeling he’s been saving the warmups — how could he not be, they make for beautiful listening. I only wish it were legally possible to distribute them. But they’re not. DeLaurenti’s on to something here.

I wish the Bmore symphony would allow me to conduct my own work. Like that will ever happen. To put it alongside Beethoven is a way to attract a larger audience, but I’d be honored to have my pieces on a show with a Beethoven or Brahms. I think that’s a great program.

As for the other show, let’s have a look:
Varese (1883-1965) – Arcana (1927)
Scelsi (1905-1988) – Four Pieces (1959 – I’m assuming this is the piece ‘Four pieces on a single note, for chamber orch.)
Stravinsky (1882-1971) – Rite of Spring (1913)

All three composers are white males, having died 20, 37, and 43 years ago. Their pieces were written 49, 81, and 95 years ago. I commend any university orchestra on a technical level for good performances of Varese and Stravinsky (though I could care less if a work is technically challenging or not). But for a U. like CM with a great school of music, with the presumed interest of furthering the production, not just the reproduction, of classical music, shouldn’t they be promoting at least one living (not to mention relatively young) composer out of three selections?

College orchestras still have to fight the audience battle, but since they’re funded by their college/university, one might think they have a bit more flexibility in their programming. My college orchestra (Brown) charged something like 2 bucks for students, 5 for everyone else. Compare that to the Baltimore Symphony’s ticket prices. The pro orchestras have obviously got more stock in number of tickets sold. Still, they’re able to put on shows like the MacMillan one. [However, the notion that new music will turn away crowds is untrue, especially in NYC, though the orchestras on the whole still adhere to this principle. If they program new works and lower the ticket prices – and renovate their halls – the crowds will change, but not diminish.] Plus, Alsop is a well known devotee of new music. So they’re doing quite well. Unfortuntely, most orchestras do not program like the Bmore symphony. I’d actually be more critical of U. orchestras who don’t program new music. A recent program (2007) from my former college orchestra, though not much better than the CM program, is still more progressive:

Weber: Oberon
Aziz: Symphonic Poem (Aziz was a senior who wrote the piece as his thesis)
Kraft: Timpani Concerto (played by a sophomore; William Kraft is old, but still living and writing)
Strauss: Till

This program goes back earlier than the CM show and spans through to the present. It covers 182 years, incorporates a 22-year old composer, two dead guys, and an 85-yr-old, a 19-yr-old student soloist. Still, all white male composers. However, I’d go to this show over the CM one. Plus, Brown’s Dept. of Music is small, and the school doesn’t even have a performance minor or certificate degree. So, they don’t get Kennedy Ctr gigs.

Nonetheless, all of these shows undoubtedly have/will have awkward silences between pieces, which I’d rather document/listen to/view than intermissions.

To me the real significance of the intermission sounds are not the actual sounds at all but the fact that these sounds are not framed by the concert consciousness. They are not meant to be heard; most people don’t listen to them; and most performers don’t play as if they are being listened to. Formal concert settings restrict performers because of the social expectations they impose.
DeLaurenti says the cacophonous warm-up sounds invite the listener into the polyphonic world of the pieces once they begin – they contrast the audibly independent yet codependent lines of much orchestral music. I agree that the disconnected warming-up sounds reveal something that most orchestral music lacks, but it’s not something that it should lack any longer. Aleatoric fragmentation, improvisation, disconnectedness, when not programmed into the score but spontaneous, can function as a mirror or critique of the fragmentation/unpredictability of today. Cage and others’ experiments with multiple orchestras conducted at different rates were great progress, but they are examples of ‘programmed disorder.’ As DeLaurenti says, we don’t hear enough new stuff at orchestral concerts. Even if it’s written in 2008, it probably sounds like it could have been written in 1978. Budgets are what hold orchestras back, and what will probably cause their death not too far in the future, but money aside – orchestral music needs more experimentation, more technology, more risk. That DeLaurenti had to record intermissions, find the ‘best’ ones, and issue them on CD (with a great cover – I agree) is both fantastic and depressing. It’s a cool concept (though I can think of many more interesting environmental settings to play through my stereo), but the fact that these intermissions often provide for him more excitement than the works on the program is just one of many examples of the static, and decaying, orchestral landscape.

This sure seems like a case where Fair Use applies, and like DG is basically using their muscle to coerce the little guy into giving up his rights. I’m not saying I blame DeLaurenti for acquiescing–fighting it would presumably have been a costly lawsuit with no financial upside–but DG is being unreasonable.

Elegant solution to have the same cover with the DG logo “torn off.”

I wonder if Billy Joel had any issues with Schirmer for the cover of his classical piano album? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasies_%26_Delusions

Good idea (the sound/music/etc), I like the title also thanks for the info (the spoof cover is funny imo and was bound to cause trouble, perhaps rightly so)

re trademarks and intellectual ‘property’, the geopolitics/history is worth looking into, no simple answers/arguments.

http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=99