Unboring Music

Went to the PSO’s final concert of the season today.

The program:

1. Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring
2. Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
3. Maurice Ravel, Daphnis and Chloé Suite No. 2

I was late to the concert and missed the first piece. To be sure, I could comment on it nonetheless, but I’ll refrain.

The Rite of Spring was, as I put it when Sara asked what I thought, “not boring” (especially the first movement). You must understand that that is one of the highest forms of praise I can give to a piece of music (and particularly to one written after 1850).

Finally, I got to hear something different, something original, something memorable; a piece that doesn’t–despite my best attempts at remembering it–automatically coalesce with the rest. All composers put a lot of thought into their music–but I like pieces where the effort is somehow evident (though not necessarily in a heavy-handed way) I tend to associate “unoriginal” or “boring” music with laziness on the composer’s part.

All this is not to say that I “liked it liked it.” But I liked it; and I appreciated the chance to hear it.

Speaking of boring, the Ravel piece was unexciting and, well, a little too flowery for my taste. It certainly was a grand production–with a 65-person orchestra (including seven timpanis (yay!)–plus a full chorus, but it just never hooked me. Luckily, it wasn’t that long.

As always, the musicians were great. I’m looking forward to next season.