flanerie

Lancashire Siffon..Sinfom..Smiffon…Band

I was intending to make this make this blog relentlessy positive and optimistic, but every now and then, I hear about yet another anti-intellectual measure being taken to protect the hard-of-thinking from having to engage in any form of thought process that veers outside the daily norm, and my blood pressure starts to rise.

According to BBC Music Magazine, the Lancashire Sinfonietta is considering a name change, because they are worried that its name could be responsible for poor ticket sales.

We want to know if the embarassment of tripping over those awkward vowels and consonants supports the out-of-date argument that classical music is elitist.

“Sinfonietta” is pronounced exactly as it is written. Five syllables. It’s not difficult.  My own company name is six syllables long, and is also pronounced exactly as it is written. A fair number of people appear to be incapable of reading an unfamiliar word and enunciating its syllables. This boggles my mind.

And I’m going to go out on a limb and hazard a guess that the kind of person that shrinks away from engaging their brain and common sense to formulate the word Sinfonietta does indeed believe that “classical” music is elitist. And it is, but not with the negative connotations insinuated by the word “elitist”. It represents an elite form of music composition and music-making, and should be absolutely unapologetic about it.

This is a collection of supremely talented people who have studied how to play their respective instruments for the majority of their lives, giving any one of an infinite number of interpretations of enormously complex pieces of music.  Damn right it’s elite. It flies in the face of the prevailing television-led idea that anyone can achieve instant fame, wealth and recognition with absolutely no training, genuine ability or, indeed, effort. The X-Factor and its ilk are in no way elite because their rewards are undeserved.

Sorry about that – I just read the news and it really got my goat.

Blue suede?

Oh so close.