Couple of brief pendants to last week's modern music debate: thanks to bachtrack for supplying a list of what repertoire orchestras actually play. As David Karlin says, the terms he uses in their survey (baroque/classical/romantic/modern) are necessarily crude, but they give a fair indication of just how much 20th-century music is a part of what orchestras are up to, all over the world. One surprise: it's the American orchestras that lead the way, playing 9% more modern music than UK bands (who also lag behind Euro-orchestras in this category).
But that depends what kind of 20th- and 21st-century music they're playing. From the other side of the Atlantic, have a look at Mark Swed in the LA Times on, among other things, the so-called "Atlanta School" of American neo-romanticists like Jennifer Higdon and Christopher Theofanidis, whose music appeases classical music audiences with its lush, glittering surfaces. But "Tough Times call for Tougher Music", Swed says, arguing that Americans - and Atlantans - need to hear music that will upset them rather than confirm easy prejudices that modernism never really mattered.
A quick word in praise of bachtrack.com: it's a great tool for searching what's happening in classical music, especially in Britain, but its feelers extend to American and European ensembles as well, even if its coverage isn't perfect the further you search from these shores. Need to find out when and where the next Hans Abrahamsen or Bernd Alois Zimmermann gig is on, say, or when you can hear euphonium soloist David Childs in concert? Bachtrack will tell you, as well providing a resource for children's events, classical music radio stations wherever you are in the world, and a CD finder.
