Unlike film and TV, theater is a luxury object, but one that ordinary middle-class people can still afford. Above all, it isn't a mass medium: Live theater is a small-scale, handmade art form. Intimacy is what makes it special.
Terry TeachoutRead
No, I don't know how to get young people to start listening to jazz again. But I do know this: Any symphony orchestra that thinks it can appeal to under-30 listeners by suggesting that they 'should' like Schubert and Stravinsky has already lost the battle.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the challenge of attracting young audiences to classical music by imposing expectations.
Terry Teachout highlights the importance of engaging younger listeners with authentic experiences rather than merely telling them what they should appreciate. The quote suggests that art forms like jazz and classical music need to evolve and connect with the interests of younger generations to remain relevant, rather than relying on authoritative claims about what is 'worthy' of appreciation.
Themes
JazzMusicYouthEngagementCultureSymphony
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a music festival, addressing how to attract younger audiences.
More from Terry Teachout
All quotes →No translation can possibly be perfect. Every production and every performance is a different path up the mountain, and nobody ever makes it all the way to the summit.
Terry TeachoutRead
Century-old records are the closest thing we have to a time machine. To listen to the voice of Theodore Roosevelt or the piano playing of Claude Debussy is to feel the years falling away like autumn leaves from a maple tree.
Terry TeachoutRead
Just as most of us prefer to watch a trapeze artist work without a net, we like to be absolutely sure that a virtuoso is giving us our money's worth, and a seemingly effortless performance, no matter how spectacular it may be, deprives us of that slightly sadistic thrill.
Terry TeachoutRead
Similar quotes
Records were vitally important to the development of music and of all music cultures. With that being pushed by the wayside, I can't see an iPod uniting us. In fact it separates us, the streets are full of people bumping into lamp posts, listening to their own little universe, and there's no sharing in that.
John LydonRead
I'm one of a dying breed who goes out and tours all the time. Labels don't spend the money to send people out to play before they become famous, but we did do that so the fans we have are word of mouth fans who have been travelling around with us for years, and they buy the albums, but they are also the ones who go out and get the bootlegs. I don't discourage bootlegging, I like playing live, I don't think it hurts my album sales at all if there are bootlegs out there. Who cares?
Sheryl CrowRead
Remember the first time you went to a show and saw your favorite band. You wore their shirt, and sang every word. You didn't know anything about scene politics, haircuts, or what was cool. All you knew was that this music made you feel different from anyone you shared a locker with. Someone finally understood you. This is what music is about.
Gerard WayRead
Jazz is there and gone. It happens. You have to be present for it. That simple.
Keith JarrettRead
The blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll.
Muddy WatersRead
I think my biggest musical hero growing up was probably Ian MacKaye. He set a great example for all of us local musicians. Still, to this day, I see him as the best example of a right-on musician.
Dave GrohlRead