As 2009 draws to a close, the inevitable flood of "best ______ of the year/decade" begins (or in the case of The Onion, The Top Ten Stories of the last 4.5 Billion Years). Clearly these lists will always generate controversy, based on opinion as they are, but I still find that most of these lists are rather narrowly focused. For instance, most lists purporting to be the "best albums of the decade" are entirely filled with pop, rock and hip-hop albums (if even that broad), while ignoring other genres such as jazz or (gasp) classical. I will admit that I browse the lists and occasionally discover interesting finds, but I finally came across something worth sharing, via kottke.org: 20 Pieces of Music That Changed the World, as presented by CBC's The Sunday Edition.

This isn't even really a "best of" list, and it's actually been running for a year and a half. But in any case, all 20 episodes (plus one devoted to Christmas music) are available to listen to online. I've listened to a bit, and looking forward to listening to more! Mostly, I'm happy to see there's everything from Gregorian chants to Reggae covered.

There will always be those who warn of the impending "death of classical music". But Variety reports on another genre of orchestral music undergoing hard times - the movie score. This may not be readily apparent to many movie goers, as music is still very much a part of feature films, but an increasing number of directors and producers are eschewing original soundtracks by trained composers. Instead, they are turning to generic music libraries.

Twenty or 30 years ago, [composer Richard Bellis] says, "the person who composed the music had to be knowledgeable about live scoring, had to be able to write music, conduct music, create music from whole cloth rather than 'selecting' music," as often happens today with the availability of such tools as Band-in-a-Box, Cinescore or generic library music.

"Today's filmmaker is more inclined to think 'I need a composer because I'm just too busy to do it myself' and there are literally hundreds of kids out there who will do it for next to nothing," Bellis says.

What they're missing, say many on the music side of the biz, are the dramatic instincts and creative spark of the trained, experienced composer. Agent Richard Kraft, who represented film-scoring giants Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein, says, "We are in a period where the thought that film music is an artistic expression is at an all-time low."

Read the whole article here.

I should note that ESO performances of film music are among our most popular offerings. We usually feature composers like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Bernard Hermann. So many movies are forever linked to their musical themes, that film makers should be wary of giving the music short shrift.

This is one of those things that's probably not supposed to be on youtube... and I probably shouldn't be reposting it here... but what the heck! It makes me smile.

Here's Ray Charles, in concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, circa 1981:

A few weeks ago staff of the ESO and Winspear Centre entered the Edmonton Downtown Business Association's annual Chili Cook-off. Businesses and groups around the city prepared chili which was sold at the event $2 for a 4oz bowl, with all proceeds going towards the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters. Our Orchestra Personnel Manager Eric provided the recipe and the leadership for us, and I made a video of the preparations. A big thanks goes to the chefs at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology who allowed us the use of their teaching kitchens to prepare the chili. Here's the video:

On Monday the Calgary Herald reported on "a growing movement of parents and teens concerned about proposed changes to how music, art, drama and dance is taught in Alberta schools."

Alberta Learning is proposing some fundamental changes to fine arts curriculum in the K-12 system, and many of these changes are being questioned by fine arts teachers, students and other stakeholders. I should note that so far Alberta Learning has only released a draft of proposed changes, and will in fact accept feedback on the changes. This being said, the fact that there seems to be a universal backlash from those directly affected by the changes would indicate to me that there was little (if any) consultation of the stakeholders in drafting the proposed changes.

There are several controversial aspects in the draft framework, but the general concern seems to be that an apparent push to integrate fine arts elements into other subjects will come at the expense of true skill development in these art forms. Or in other words, the arts are getting dumbed down.

The website SaveOurFineArts.ca has posted a facts sheet about these changes, noting both concerns with and positive aspects of the proposed framework, along with ways to get involved and to give feedback to Alberta Learning and MLAs. Whether or not you believe the changes to be positive or negative - or a little of both - it's an issue that deserves our attention. It's not quite as headline-grabbing as direct funding cuts to the arts or arts education, but it may in fact have a far greater effect on the future artists of Alberta.