Flash mob Bolero is a great idea (H/T Jon) that doesn't quite work.
Ravel's repetitive work is best appreciated, I find, when one can see, rather than just hear, each different instrument as it joins the progression, so the Copenhagen Philharmonic's idea of performing it through the flash mob medium was brilliant. My only complaint is that much of the effect of the music is lost by being cut by about two thirds.
What struck me was how much more approachable the music becomes when the musicians aren't all wearing formal clothes.
On Saturday we attended the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's season-opening concert, and I thought of your comment. I agree with you, in that the "normal" clothes promote the idea that this music is not something esoteric but the music of ordinary, normal people, and the idea that musicians are normal people—that playing an instrument is something anyone might aspire to.
On the other hand, as I watched the orchestra I developed an appreciation for their formal dress. Not because it was formal, but because it was designed to keep attention from being drawn to individuals. A featured soloist will dress in more arresting outfits because that is where the focus of the music is. But an orchestra is about the ensemble, not the individual, and no one wants the audience's attention distracted by the bright red dress of the third cellist or the picture on the tympanist's t-shirt.
Then my mind wandered (yes, I was still enjoying the music!) to the reason, at least in liturgical churches, why those who lead worship and serve at the altar wear vestments. It is not to be "formal" nor to make them look special, but to remove distractions and emphasize the service being done over the individual doing the serving.
I guess there's room in life for both approaches. :)
Absolutely. An Irish session would be weird if everyone showed up in formal garb, and a marching band would look far less arresting if everyone walked at his own pace and wore whatever he pleased.
On that note, Cool Jazz was an interesting development, where a stronger orientation toward the form and art of music went along with more introverted playing and a more formal dress code. There, too, the restraint in dress and individualism went along with a stronger emphasis on the music and a lesser one on the individual.
Joseph enjoyed the music and clapped at the end!
That's our boy. :)
