SUNDAY TRIBUNE ART REVIEW: ATTACK OF THE BAY WINDOWS
Mar 2nd, 2008 by Conor McCabe
Karen Dervan is not well.
In today’s Sunday Tribune review section she tells us that her blood is boiling. The reason is simple: Glen Hansard and his “make art” speech at the Oscars.
There are Irish artists struggling to “make art” every day, artists who will most likely never earn any recognition for their efforts until, perhaps, they are dead, artists for whom commercial or state recognition is not even a dream but a nightmare, for all its conformist connotations, artists whose fundamental struggle is based on the moving forward, the real development of Irish art, not because it’s Irish art, but because it’s art. Mr Hansard, with his three-chord balladry and predictable harmonies, albeit that these tricks make for a good pop song, cannot lay claim to such standards and certainly not to the “making” of art.”
First of all, Glen Hansard was referring not only to his song, but also to the movie Once, and movies are an art form: cinema. But no matter. Karen is talking here about music as art, and music as low balladry. There is a world of difference between them, a New World of difference.
And where does great art reside? Well, for Karen, the answer is simple: great art is the recital of great composition. And it resides in classical music and opera. Karen tells us that,
it is my pleasure to inform my readers of some real artists making real art in the coming weeks. The cello concerto of Antonin Dvorak is not only one of the best-loved and most frequently-performed works in the cello repertoire but one of the Czech composer’s most highly-esteemed compositions… Just short of the 112th anniversary of [the cello concerto´s] premiere, another British cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber, will showcase the work at the National Concert Hall on Wednesday (5 March), in the company of the Warsaw Philharmonic, with its Polish artistic director, Antoni Wit, at the helm.”
Ok. So far, so pretentious. Great art is classical music and opera. The three-chord balladry and predictable melodies of Glen Hansard et al may be ok for the great unwashed, but these musical works hardly constitutite great art. In this, Karen is singing a predictable, and unoriginal, tune.
Karen uses Dvorák as some kind of bulwark against low art. However, She happened to pick a composer for whom folk songs, “predictable melodies”, and “three-chord balladry” were an inspiration. Dvorák was a nationalist, one who saw the development of a nation´s music in its appreciation of its own musical styles. Indeed, many of Dvorák´s works contain strong elements of folk music from his native Bohemia. The influence did not stop there. His New World symphony contains melodies that were heavily influenced by American Negro spiritual songs.
These melodies were not just an inspiration with regard to composition, but rather, they reflected a deeper truth about music. This is what Dvorák had to say in 1892 about American music.
I am convinced that the future music of this country must be founded on what are called Negro melodies. These can be the foundation of a serious and original school of composition, to be developed in the United States. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.”
Unlike Karen Dervan, Dvorák believed that folk and popular music contained art - indeed, he urged composers to make folk and popular music the basis of their art. Karen Dervan´s use of Dvorák to belittle folk and popular music shows a profound ignorance of the man, his music, and his life.
The main problem with Karen Dervan´s article, however, lies with her conclusion that “the real development of Irish art” is taking place outside of Glen Hansard´s world - that the world of recitals and opera festivals is where artistic development is taking place.
In what way does a recital constitute “real artists making real art”? First of all, there is no composition taking place. There is a limited form of intepretation undertaken by the performer, but is it really that much stronger than original composition?
Furthermore, how is “Irish art” helped by a recital of Dvorák´s cello concerto undertaken by a British cellist? Even at the level of intepretation as a form of art, a concert by Julian Lloyd Webber cannot cliam to be an Irish artistic endeavour. Now, Mr. Webber is a fine cellist. It is Karen Dervan´s assertion, not Mr. Webber´s, that his concert is an example of “Irish art, or even art” slapping the cheek of that upstart Hansard with a silk white glove.
Karen´s article belches pretentiousness with as much grace as Mr. Creosote in Monthy Python´s The Meaning of Life. Not content with having dismissed Irish balladry and film-making with a stolen bow from Mr. Webber´s hand, she continues with a plug for the Sunday Business Post´s Orchestral series - which “boasts landmark and ever-popular works by Tchaikovsky, the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture and Shostakovich, his fifth symphony.” She goes on to say that
Opera-lovers in Limerick, Kerry and Cork still have the opportunity to see the Opera Theatre Company’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville this week. Since its opening night in Navan last weekend, the company has already visited Derry, Dundalk and Tallaght. Directed by Bill Bankes-Jones, former staff director to English National Opera and current artistic director of contemporary opera specialists, Tete a Tete, in collaboration with designer David Craig, Rossini’s frenetically witty opera buffa masterpiece will put Doreen Curran (Rosina), Owen Gilhooly (Figaro), Niall Morris (Almaviva) and Martin Higgins (Bartolo) through their respective paces.”
This is what Karen calls “leaving art to the artists.”
So. Irish art. Watching an English cellist performing within the cold marble of the National Concert Hall, or sitting through a “witty opera buffa masterpiece” while wearing the good suit. The pretentious opinion of someone who doesn’t know her arts from her elbow.
And they wonder why art is considered elitist when this nonsense is trotted out, or, as we discussed during the week, why the middle classes appear to have a stranglehold on the ‘arts’?
What got me is the fact that she tried to use Dvorák to do it. I mean, pretentious AND ignorant of the facts. Wonderful combination.
Boy, that told her. How embarrasing it must be for a (I presume) professional journalist to see their column so publicly disseminated and comprehensively ridiculed like that. I’m not even a Hansard fan but that most certainly brought the faint beginnings of a smile of satisfaction to my lips. Bravo!
I’m partial to the odd blast of th’oul Hovis horns meself.
Spot on Conor… must be why I feel a bit queasy leaving my kids off to the music school here in France on the days in question. I can see the good side of a municipally-subsidised school giving kids a fairly cheap / fairly decent musical education but I can also see that same pretentiousness in the teachers/a lot of the other parents. Both of my kids have been learning music for 4-5 years and they’ve hardly heard mention of trad music (don’t like the term ‘folk’). As you rightly say, Dvorak was far from being the sole classical composer to draw inspiration from trad music.
Madame calls me an inverted snob - but classical music didn’t exactly come knocking down our doors on the northside, did it ? Why should I feel any goodwill towards it ?
I’ll admit I’ve not read the woman’s article, but from what you relay of it, she seems to be thinking/talking through her arse. Too many vital functions for the one organ, methinks.
Must say, Ireland and the likes of her have been good to opera - with all the guff about our great tradition of tenors - there isn’t even a proper opera house in the country - laughable. Wouldn’t want to be wasting all the tax our glorious leader pays on the like of that, would we ??
Oddly enough, she reminds me of Gainsbourg’s famous throwaway comment that his songwriting was just an ‘art mineur’ not that he’d be likely to get a spot at the NCH either. Don’t worry Mr Hansard - you’re in good company in the ‘minor artists’ bracket.
Me, I’ll just get back to making smack cut with talc… leave the art to me betters.
Delighted to see my article incited such a vociferous response from you Mr McCabe but, alas, I am disappointed to see that you seem to have drawn from your reading the bizarre conclusion that by my mentioning of upcoming classical performances in Ireland (that’s my job, you see) I was attempting to give examples of pillars of Irish art. If you conclude that my sole interpretation of art is confined to classical music and opera, I can only presume that that is because the word “classical” is written beside my name. There is nothing in the first paragraph that suggests that I am referring only to classical music and opera. You draw that conclusion because of a seeming unfamiliarity with the nature of column writing in the Tribune Review. Sometimes we write about more than one topic within one article. It might be helpful if I were to send you a copy of that column personally, with indications of where the first, second and third paragraphs, ie first “topic”, second “topic” and third “topic”, each end. But thank you for your lesson on Dvorak all the same.
Hi Karen, you were giving examples of pillars of irish art.let me quote from your article:
“Now that I’ve rid myself of some of that anger, it is my pleasure to inform my readers of some real artists making real art in the coming weeks. The cello concerto of Antonin Dvorak is not only one of the best-loved and most frequently-performed works in the cello repertoire but one of the Czech composer’s most highly-esteemed compositions, lauded in the wake of its premiere by the inestimable Johannes Brahms who so famously proclaimed, “Had I known that one could write a cello concerto like this, I would have written one long ago!” The occasion of its premiere in London (16 March, 1896) by the British cellist Leo Stern, marked Dvorak’s last visit to London and, indeed, the work transpired to be one of his last completed works.”
Now, the part where you say - “Let me inform you of some real artists making real art in the coming weeks.” That´s where you make it clear that you see recitals as art.
And the point about sending me another copy of your article: i mean, if you cannot get across what you want to say the first time around, do a rewrite.
but, while I have your attention, how can you justify the incredible remark that balladry is not art? I mean, is it the form and structure of balladry - three chords, simple melodies - that rules it out of your definition of art?
Certainly, the American Congressional Library might be interested in what you have to say, as they have dedicated decades to collecting and cataloguing such low balladry. The Americans agree with Dvorák.
Its funny Karen, but you seem to have completely missed the irony that you should choose to dismiss Hansard as an artist and the ‘craft’ of songwriting as an art form and then go on, as a critic of ‘classical’ music, to tell your readers about a composer who clearly didn’t draw the same distinction.
You say in your second paragraph:
Why make the distinction, and why not consider song writing an artform which, if I am to use your definition, evolves, relies on certain amount of experimentation and develops over time.
This has nothing to do with whether you think Hansard is any good - you clearly think he’s a hack - and everything to do with outdate, pretensious notions of what makes good art.
It is absurd to say, as you do in your first paragraph that:
It seems that you think that artists should ’struggle’, that they should never earn any recognition in their lifetime and that they should shun commercial or state recognition in order for them to be ‘real’ artists in your eyes. Are those artists who are not struggling, who have actually gained recognition in their lifetime and who have earned money while doing so not ‘real’ artists either?
Should Irish galleries which show contemporary Irish painting shut up shop? Should Anne Enright, John Banville and Roddy Doyle give back their Bookers? Should the RTE National Symphony Orchestra tell the contemporary composer Roger Doyle to go take a swinging jump?
And should someone who, in accepting an Oscar consider himself not only to be representing himself as a song writer but also acknowledging the success that the film Once has gained be able to suggest that you can be independent, work on a small budget AND produce art.
I don’t like Hansard’s music that much myself (although a fan of singersongwriters and low balladering in general) and I haven’t seen Once, but I still think what he said was highly commendable and was delighted when he won it.
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