The Orchestration of Civil Society: Community and Conscience in Symphony Orchestras
2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/17411912.2011.638515
ISSN1741-1920
Autores Tópico(s)Diversity and Impact of Dance
ResumoAbstract This article explores the symphony orchestra's potential to contribute to the making of civil society. It highlights orchestral attempts to reach new communities through repertoire choices, outreach projects, interactive digital technologies, and initiatives addressing poverty and environmentalism. Metaphors of the 'orchestra as society', which have been shaped by notions of social relations, are outlined to provide a platform for considering the institution as a social agent in the contemporary world. The social conscience of symphony orchestras is illustrated with ethnographic case studies mainly from the British context: the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's tribute concerts for the qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the 'Rafi Resurrected' recordings, the London Symphony Orchestra Gamelan community project and the Philharmonia Orchestra's digital project, 'Re-Rite'. Orchestral advocacy and the quest for contemporary social relevance stand in contrast to pessimistic views in the late twentieth century on the future of the orchestra as a musical institution. Key concerns are the symphony orchestra as a socio-political actor, orchestral interaction as a mode of civic collaboration and orchestral participatory projects. Keywords: Symphony Orchestras (UK)AdvocacyCivil SocietyCommunity ProjectsParticipatory PracticesSustainability Notes 1. My research on orchestras has been made possible with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), gratefully acknowledged, for a project on the 'orchestra' in global perspective undertaken within the AHRC Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice. An earlier version of this article was presented as a keynote address at the international conference on 'The Symphony Orchestra as Cultural Phenomenon' at the Institute of Musical Research, London, July 2010. 2. Allmendinger, Hackman and Lehman (1996 Allmendinger , Jutta , Richard Hackman and Erin V. Lehman . 1996 . 'Life and Work in Symphony Orchestras' . The Musical Quarterly 80 2 : 194 – 219 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]:207–12) note in relation to gender inequality, for example, that women were more likely to be employed as second violinists in regional orchestras than any other orchestral position, especially in the USA (based on data collected in 1990 and 1991 from the USA, the UK, and East and West Germany). 3. See http://vimeo.com/7222431 (accessed 12 October 2010). 4. This, of course, extends beyond the UK context. The Dutch government, for example, proposed (although subsequently reconsidered) the closure of the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Centre, home to a symphony and a chamber orchestra. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/oct/05/dutch-arts-cuts-orchestra (posted 5 October 2010; accessed 12 October 2010). 5. Although it is my focus here, these interactions are not limited to the South Asian example; others include the civic and musical projects of steelband orchestras in Leicester playing with members of the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra in festivals during the 1970s. These were pursued with an explicitly political agenda of developing community interactions. 6. See http://www.abo.org.uk/Information/About-Orchestras/Education-and-Community/ (accessed November 2009). 7. The mnemonic syllables indicating tablā tone production and rhythmic patterns of Indian music (tāl). 8. See http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/re-rite/ (accessed July 2010). 9. One entry I particularly liked was on 'The Rewards of Rebranding', posted by Rosenna East from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on 22 April 2010. She begins: 'There is a story about a UK symphony orchestra that was rebranding. At the eleventh hour, the orchestral members discovered that their Management [was] planning to have a new slogan—'We're All Over the Place'—plastered across their orchestral truck …'. See http://www.sco.org.uk/experience/blog/2010/04/rewards-rebranding (accessed 14 June 2010). 10. For example, see http://cbso-weblog.livejournal.com/ (accessed 3 December 2010). 11. See http://www.laphil.com/connect/mobile/index.cfm (accessed 14 June 2010). 12. For example, see http://www.cbso.co.uk/?page=mycbso/rememberus.html (accessed 14 June 2010). 13. See http://www.lso.co.uk/getinvolved (accessed 10 June 2010). 14. See http://www.inharmonyengland.com/ (accessed 20 November 2010). 15. See http://www.whiteband.org/en/about (accessed November 2010). 16. Other goals are to achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. The online competition was won by Toni and Mareike in Germany (Jury award) and by Cichy and Mariusz Florczyk in Poland (award of the Internet voters). See http://www.ifightpoverty.eu/ (accessed November 2010). Additional informationNotes on contributorsTina K. RamnarineTina K. Ramnarine, Professor of Music at Royal Holloway University of London, is a musician and anthropologist with research interests in music, globalisation, identity politics and environment. Her main publications include the books Creating Their Own Space: The Development of an Indian-Caribbean Musical Tradition (University of West Indies Press, 2001), Ilmatar's Inspirations: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Changing Soundscapes of Finnish Folk Music (Chicago University Press, 2003), Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora (Pluto Press, 2007), and the edited volume Musical Performance in the Diaspora (Routledge, 2007). Her current research is on orchestras in global perspective
Referência(s)