Colin Eatock, composer
  • Home
  • About Colin Eatock
  • Composing
  • Catalogue of works
  • Media
  • Writing about music
  • Eatock Daily (blog)
  • New and upcoming
  • Contact me

Sometimes a Concert Is a Perfect Sphere

3/3/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureNo angles, edges or hooks.
Every now and then, an unfortunate thing happens. A first-rate ensemble puts together a first-rate program – and a publicist contacts me, asking if I can write an advance feature story on the upcoming concert. Sometimes I’m able to say yes, but sometimes I must say no.

And when I say no, it’s often because, from a journalistic standpoint, the concert in question is like a perfectly round, smooth sphere. It has no angles, no edges, no hooks – nothing for a journalist to grab onto and work with.


This happened to me (yet again) recently. A publicist informed me that a prestigious European chamber ensemble would soon be coming to town. Could I write something in advance – perhaps an interview with one or more of the members?

I read over the biography of the group: lots of concerts in famous venues and a handful of impressive CDs. I read over the performers’ individual biographies: they all studied with distinguished teachers, and won some very nice prizes along the way. I looked at their upcoming program: three fine works by Mozart, Schumann and Mendelssohn.

All of this pointed to an excellent evening of music-making. But where, oh where, is a feature article to be found here? There didn’t appear to be any engaging back-story or clever extra-musical theme to the program. There was no indication that any of the musicians had any remarkable
human-interest stories to tell. And the ensemble wasn’t even celebrating a round-numbered anniversary year.

So I wrote to the publicist: “Is there anything newsworthy, or unusual, or controversial about this ensemble or about this concert? If I were to interview a member of the group, what would I ask?”

The publicist was evidently just as stumped as I was. After consulting the artistic directors of the presenting series and coming up with very little, she turned the topic of our correspondence to other upcoming concerts.

So what’s the take-away here?

Should musicians always strive for man-bites-dog novelty, when putting a concert-program together? I would hate for such an approach to become de rigueur. A “standard” concert by a “regular” ensemble can be a sublime thing, and nobody should doubt the musical value of such an enterprise. I hope that such concerts will always have an honoured place in the classical music world.

But people in the classical-music world need to understand that their musical values and the values of journalism aren’t necessarily congruent. Just because a concert is going to happen – and, by all indications, it’s going to be a very good one – that doesn’t make it a good story.

Maybe that’s not the way things should be, in an ideal world. But that’s the way they are.


© Colin Eatock 2015
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Eatock Daily

    I'm a composer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

    When I first started blogging, Eatock Daily was a place to re-post the articles I wrote for Toronto’s Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.

    But now I have stepped back from professional music journalism, and I'm spending more time composing.

    These days, my blog posts are infrequent, and are mostly concerned with my own music. However, I do still occasionally post comments on musical topics, including works I've discovered, enjoyed, and wish to share with others.


    – CE

    Archives

    April 2025
    August 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    October 2023
    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    September 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Index

    Click here for an alphabetical list of blog entries.

    RSS Feed

    Follow colineatock on Twitter
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.