When The Test Of Time Is A Fiction
One common mistake is that people make is by thinking:
Only good music stands the test of time.
Ella faces the camera smiling, holding up a score which says ‘Songs for Marvellous’
The problem is that history has been written by people with different agendas from just 'good music'.
Take Clara Schumann for instance - a brilliant and revered composer and performer in her time, hugely influencial, and just happened to have a husband who also composed. We would think that she would have stood the test of time, right?
Wrong.
She was actively written out of history because of her gender.
(I urge you to follow Sarah Fritz on Twitter who is writing a novel about Clara and her tweets are fascinating https://twitter.com/sarahfritz... )
We can't trust the test of time when history is written by people who dismiss and devalue the work of people who are being oppressed by European colonialism.
We need to accept new music that we enjoy listening to NOW, bring it into the curriculum and publish the music.
It's time to take the future of "history" into our own hands and ensure that a true intersection of society are celebrated in European Classical Music for the absolute wealth of creative expression that we bring.
Here is my part: I have self-published my scores for this very reason.
A Special Collection of fourteen of these pieces are available for academic and public music libraries, so that my work not only stands the test of time, but shows young composers that theirs can too.
Purchase The Collection
Not a librarian?
Other ways you can help are:
Forward this email to friends and colleagues who will resonate with this message
Look at the curriculum you are teaching your students and ask yourself if there is a way that you can make it more inclusive.
Ensure that when you commission a composer, ask yourself if you have a true intersection of society on your short-list? Some call this positive discrimination. I call it ensuring that you get a wide variety of creative expression.
Programme mine and other composers' works as part of your normal repertoire - normalisation is key
Perform and study music from the global majority of composers, rather than sticking to the formal curriculum.
Check out my social media posts detailing the behind the scenes of self-publishing and share
In Other News…
I'm taking the entirety of August off! These last two years have been both fantastic and harrowing (and everything in between), so I'm celebrating the end of another academic year by... having a proper break.
👉🏾 The Collection is still available to purchase, and all orders will be signed and sent from the second week of September.
👉🏾 Individual music scores (for performance or study) are also available to buy from my website
👉🏾 If you'd like to work with me in the Autumn, ping me or my manager an email via my website
👉🏾 All emails and social media posts from now on are scheduled, so I'll respond to any comments or questions in September!
It's been one heck of a couple of years and so my goal is to switch off entirely, enjoy some time with my family and have an amazing residency with Jo Brandon at Wild Plum Arts' #madeattheredhouse!
Have a great summer 😘