![]() ![]() Sadly, no group of musicians has ever been as vulnerable to the demands and expectations of the business as prodigies. Those are the words of American composer Virgil Thomson, who in 1961 recognized that music was losing its purity and autonomy to the music business. popular.“Keeping the rot peripheral, preventing it from infecting the heart, is not going to be easy. It's just the nature of the beast when it comes to classical vs. Those who write them should be given a lot of credit for their accomplishments.Īnd the bottom line: those who write them will be bringing pleasure to a LOT more people than this kid ever will if he lives to be 95. The fact is, there ARE legions of simple pop songs that manage to be both popular and GOOD (and I realize that term is somewhat subjective, but there's also general agreement on what the best of them are).and also enduring. But neither is it completely insignificant. Mass popularity is only one of many different measures of musical quality, and certainly not the most important one. And there's plenty of cult music that doesn't sell squat but is nevertheless excellent. Now this cuts both ways.there is a lot of simple pop music that sells millions and is really terrible. I always want to say to them, "OK.if it's so simple, let's see YOU write a simple pop song that catches the fancy of millions and millions of listeners (while your beloved prog is and will always remain a cult item at best)." I have long bristled when people condescendingly dismiss a given piece of music as "nothing more than a simple pop song." (If they're not classical snobs, these people are usually fans of prog or similar genres, where the rationale seems to be the more notes or chord changes there are per minute, the better.) To give him a little bit of support and come at this from a slightly different angle. But I doubt his music at this point has much depth.Ĭlick to expand.I can actually understand where the OP is coming from when he says this. Does he deserve this recognition while many brillaint musicians toil in obscurity? Probably not yet, someday he may. By being a prodigy, Greenberg incites an immediate curiousity factor. It is extremely difficult for a modern composer to either be programmed or recorded. From Saariaho and Lindberg to the very difficult Ferneyhough and James Dillon, Rautavaara, and the list goes on. I am one of those very few who listen to modern composers. And it may be a good thing when people find out there are real living working compsers in the world. The mere label "child prodigy" has been enough to get him recorded by Sony. While it may be amazing that the young Greenberg hears complete symphonies in his head and can transcribe them in a few hours, that does not make them interesting, original or communicative. 5 symphonies at age 14- and tellingly, the kid himself was bored during the recording of his 5th symphony. But I have deep misgivings about the quality of music that is being put out at such a fast rate. Now, I take the Julliard professors at their word that this kid has an incredible gift. I am fascinated by this story for a number of reasons. The most difficult thing to do musically is to write a great pop song. Show me a child prodigy that writes his own symphonies? Yawn. Listen to a song like Love Can Make You Happy by Mercy, a work so beautiful that they did it only once. This is the highest point of musical achievement. The most difficult thing to do in music is to write a simple, heartbreakingly beautiful song. ![]() I guarantee that he and those within his small circle will feel that a three minute pop song is beneath him. ![]() Ask the prodigy to take some time out from writing symphonies and write a three minute gorgeous pop song like these. Play this 13 year old prodigy some breathtakingly beautiful pop songs like Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke, Traces Of Love by the Classics IV, or Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes by Edison Lighthouse. I always find reports like these a little frustrating and false writing a boring symphony that no one outside of a very small audience will hear is not the true test of real musical talent. He could play the piano at 3, attended Julliard at 11, and at 13, has already written 5 symphonies. On 60 Minutes last night a 13 year old musical child prodigy was profiled. ![]()
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