In early March this year, the Danish People's Party and Minister of Culture Mette Bock caused a huge stir in the media when they proposed major changes to the entire Danish concert scene. Common to the proposals was that live music should be taken out of Danish Radio, the symphony orchestra should be placed under the National Stage together with the DR Vocal Ensembles, which according to the DF's proposal should be merged with the Royal Theatre's opera choir. It is envisaged that the Symphony Orchestra will then rent space in the Concert Hall, which will retain the operation of the other current DR ensembles. The proposal also includes plans to close Copenhagen Phil, whose tasks could be handled by the Royal Danish Orchestra.
Regardless of the fact that several of these proposals can easily be criticised as poorly thought out, the case is an expression of a long simmering unrest in the area. When the proposals were presented, there seems to be a blue majority in favour of doing something overall about the orchestra area, so we must be prepared for new times. - Here's some perspective:
Musically, Danish Radio is a colossal patchwork quilt. There are programmes for everything - P2 for classical music, P8Jazz, P3, P4... New programmes are constantly being added, and for the sake of clarity, we organise the music into some general genres, ’classical’, ’rhythmic’, ’pop’, ’jazz’, ’entertainment music’..., each of which says something about the nature or use of the music. ’Entertainment music’ - well, it is meant to entertain. It's a broad term, but you realise that it implies something non-committal. ’Rhythmic music’ is a ridiculous term because almost all music has rhythm. And if we look up the term, we will discover that it originated in the 1970s as a music-political slogan against the favouring of ’classical music’. This term - ’classical music’ - is in itself somewhat obscure, as we will see later. If you didn't know better, you would immediately think that the word ’classical’ here - as in the visual arts and sculpture - refers to the classical antiquity of Greece and Rome. But we know that it doesn't. ’Folk music’ again shows something else about music. That it has a connection with ’the people’, whatever that is. - Obviously a wild confusion, but one that we have become accustomed to dealing with. We use the terms as if they made sense. Once upon a time, Danmarks Radio even used several of the terms as headings for their programme departments in order to postulate an overview. Not so much anymore, and yet.
For many years, DR had two departments that divided the music and orchestras between them. These were the ’Entertainment Department’ and the ’Music Department’. And the corresponding orchestras ’Entertainment Orchestra’ and ’Symphony Orchestra’. The institutions that began with ’Entertainment’ dealt with ’lighter’ music - a term that says something about the music itself, the demands it places on its listeners and the use of the music. Here the music is not at the centre - it is not ’listening music’, it is used for something else, dance, film, entertainment, sociability, etc. Unlike ’symphonic music’, which must be taken seriously. The term ’art music’ is also used. Here the music takes centre stage, it is ’listening music’ that demands the user's full attention. It is music that is played for its own sake and its users relate to it critically and discerningly. Let's dwell on the relationship between these two different musical worlds before moving on to the other genres.
In the old days - 300-400 years ago - the distinction between high and low, fine and less fine, was more simple and socially understandable than later. A popular music on the one hand and a distinguished music for the high and mighty, kings, princes and priests on the other. Roughly speaking, this was the difference between everyday music for work, everyday life and play among the common people versus the representative music of professional musicians and composers for rituals at court or in church.
In the mid-1800s, Europe's cities grew and a mass audience became a reality. City dwellers lost their connection to their traditional culture and their music, like many others, became an industrial product that could be mass-produced - a trend that accelerated with the 20th century's industrial production of records, sheet music, films, etc. and, of course, with the rise of mass media, especially radio and the gramophone. Entertainment music must appeal to a broad audience, so local and ethnic characteristics had to be erased and the aim was to create standardised and uniform music for the many.
In art music, the ’work’ - the symphony, string quartet, etc. - becomes the place where the composer unfolds his individuality. Each work - the ’opus’ - becomes something special, the demand for originality emerges, and the music is ’performed’ in specially designed concert halls where professional performers play for an ’educated’, sedentary audience with specific requirements. The music is reviewed and dissected in specialised language in bourgeois newspapers. Composers of entertainment music write more ’melodies’ that are judged on their singability, recognisability and accessibility.
It goes without saying that exquisite art music - increasingly nicknamed ’classical music’ - is given a different status to mass-produced entertainment music. In Western societies, conservatories are set up to maintain and protect this particular art form, while entertainment music survives on market terms, which of course helps to equate it with other consumer goods. The term ’entertainment music’ is gradually becoming synonymous with pop - short for popular music.
The split into a ’serious’ and a ’light’ music can actually be found later in the history of jazz music. The history of jazz is much shorter - it runs through the 20th century. But just as described earlier, at some point - typically in the 1950s - jazz split into light music and art music. The ’traditional’ jazz with additions - in Denmark represented by the Papa Bue segment - on one side and the ’Radiojazzgruppen’ and ’Det nye Radiodanseorkester’, which became the DR Big Band, on the other.
DR's division into a Music Department and an Entertainment Department and the orchestras into a ’symphony orchestra’ and an ’entertainment orchestra’ had been a reality for generations. But it gradually became more and more problematic to maintain it. Not so much administratively as musically. For example, even the most highbrow jazz music belonged in the Entertainment Department, which many ’serious’ jazz people found wrong and humiliating, and the Entertainment Orchestra increasingly also played symphonic music. Recognising the hopelessness of maintaining the rigid distinction between two main musical areas, the administrative distinction between the ’Music Department’ and the ’Entertainment Department’ disappeared - or perhaps it was rather moved to programme level.
In the 1920s, the new cultural institution ’Statsradiofonien’ emerged. Its leader came from the symphonic world - chamber singer Emil Holm. He recognised the potential of radio as a musical institution early on. And he saw it as one of his important tasks to expand the opportunities to hear (classical) music. Until then, audiences had had to go to concerts in the theatre or to cafés and dances if they wanted to hear music. Or they had to play the great symphonies four-handed at home. Now there was a unique opportunity to bring music into the living room. To this end, Holm and his team gathered the best musicians of the time to play their music where the technology was - in the ’radio house’ of the time. For technical reasons, transmissions from elsewhere were very rare. In the beginning, symphonic music was played in arrangements for fairly small orchestras, replacing the large string ensembles with various combinations of piano and harmonium. The great symphonies for ensembles of 15-20 people! Entertainment music was easier - café trios and quartets did the trick. - The ensembles grew, and it was still easiest to have the ensembles in the house where the technology was. Since then, it has proved to be a flexible and simple arrangement to have the central part of the music close to the large technical apparatus and to have the opportunity to travel around the country with transmission vehicles.
In 2014, financial problems in the wake of the new DR city's hugely expensive concert hall for symphonic music forced DR to get rid of the Entertainment Orchestra. The protests were fierce. Not so much because we were going to lack an orchestra for entertainment music, but because the orchestra had developed its own profile within the ’classical’ repertoire, led by Adam Fischer. This, many felt, should be appreciated. - However, over time it became clear that there was a large musical area that was left uncovered when the Entertainment Orchestra was gone - including musicals, revues, film music...
In the 2017 season, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra is in top form. With Fabio Luisi on the podium, the orchestra is at the highest European level, and the plans are ambitious. The orchestra promises new highlights in the symphonic repertoire. The most demanding traditional material alongside highlights from the latest symphonic music. Our talented symphony orchestra and choir are a cause for celebration. - At the same time, we find that the symphony orchestra and choir connect with material from the traditional ’entertainment area’. Sold-out concerts with music from computer games, a big ’Galaxymphony’ concert with music from science fiction films and a Ledreborg concert with highlights from the musical tradition.
A quick look at the Big Band's activities and plans shows the same picture: away from the rigid collection of jazz ’mainstays’ and towards a much broader repertoire. While the DR Big Band represents the highest level of traditional and contemporary big band repertoire, we see the presentation of ’The Great American Songbook’ with Curtis Stigers, Indie Rock, Cirkus Summarum and the Beatles tradition with ’Sgt. Pepper's Lone Hearts Club Band’ and Django Bates.
Where have the boundaries gone? The big band plays pop music and the symphony orchestra lets loose with Star Wars tunes! The boundaries are blurring - if there are any boundaries anymore. Is it good or bad? - There are mutterings in the corners that orchestras and choirs are ’compromising’ on their obligations to uphold the quality of the core repertoire. And some believe that this pandering to an unprepared audience undermines respect for our precious concert tradition. ’They clap between movements!’ and sing along. Towards the abyss!
Perhaps we must reluctantly realise that the story we rushed through above is still evolving - that the new historical situation effectively breaks down conventional boundaries and that the music that is always and everywhere is changing as its circumstances change. The rapid shifts, where you can tumble between genres at the click of a button and find yourself in the quiet contemplation of chamber music one moment and the glamour of Hollywood the next - the new musical reality must lead to new musical habits and a new musical receptivity. The faithful, or perhaps rather stubborn, insistence that such and such a genre belongs to such and such circumstances, habits and restrictions must be revised - and replaced with a willingness to accept the consequence that the 19th century is long gone and that the musical fruits of the bourgeoisie's heyday must be experienced in a new musical reality.
The replacement of the oak leaf-encircled name ’The Royal Danish Academy of Music’ with ’Kongekons’ in parallel to ’Rytmekons’ clearly shows: we don't want to be brought up to manage a musical museum! - The same goes for the other bourgeois institutions of music: they are opened up, boundaries are removed, prejudices are removed and the past is experienced as part of the present. Then you will certainly find that it makes new sense to engage with the music of the past - again and again - because today's eyes and ears give it a new perspective.
This new perspective is extremely demanding for the orchestras and singers involved. Whereas before they could sit back in the ivory tower and polish tradition - either ’the fine’, ’the light’, ’jazz’ or ’pop’ - they now have to know it all. The professional symphony orchestra sets the tone with everything from the purest baroque music to the wildest Star Wars roar. The BigBand proves to span an impressive range if given the optimal setting, and the choirs refine both the new demanding choral music and the big popular favourites - all under the right conditions. Cross-collaboration, the breaking down of narrow genre boundaries and the contemporary use of the eminently talented and professional artists require an environment that very few places provide. There are many indications that DR-Byen is well on its way to becoming the musical power centre that can take on this historically unique task. Instead of looking back and preserving the past with its limits and prejudices, it is important to discover and cultivate the opportunities in the melting pot of possibilities that this place holds.
We who are friends with the whole thing across traditional boundaries will do our best to open the creative doors and join forces around the exceptional artistic environment in DR, which has been built up here over generations.