Day 7 - High Culture

I saw a letter to the editor in this morning's newspaper in which the writer was echoing the sentiments of a previous letter, which had said seniors could help renew a love for classical music in our culture by bringing young people along when they go to concerts. Maybe this is true. I'm sure there are kids out there who didn't realize they had an appreciation for classical music until they were exposed to it, and an orchestral performance would be as effective of an introduction as any.

Not long ago our school took the 5th graders on a field trip to Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis to hear a performance of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." This was undeniably a great opportunity for the kids, since so few of them would have the chance to experience such a thing in their daily lives. They were excited about the day since it was a field trip, and many of them were looking forward to the performance if only to see the instruments they had signed up to play in 6th grade orchestra. In the back of my mind, I wondered how the performance would go over for kids that, for the most part, haven't been exposed to much more music than whatever they're currently being force-fed by pop radio, or from practicing for piano lessons, or are peripherally aware of from the soundtracks of the video games they play.

They were impressed with Orchestra Hall as soon as we arrived: The acoustic design, the lighting, the comfortable chairs, and the surprise of seeing several friends from other schools who were also there that day. They chatted as the hall filled, with some watching the musicians warm up and tune, pointing out to each other instruments they recognized from their own middle school try-out day.

The performance began with some backstory to the piece, told through a slide show taken from a picture book about it which was narrated by the author. It told of how the composer worked with a choreographer to design something new and modern and progressive, merging music and dance and surprising the society of their time. Once the story was finished, we settled in for the music.

I don't mind saying it: "The Rite of Spring" really didn't do it for me. I'm not exactly a classical aficionado, but I'm not completely ignorant about it either. The piece had a dissonant, chaotic quality that didn't really resonate with me, but I still enjoyed seeing it performed at such a high level of mastery. As for the kids? I sat behind most of our group, and enjoyed seeing so many of them bob and sway their way through the performance. They sat up straight to get the best view they could, and seemed legitimately engaged. And many of them had comments afterward about some very specific things they enjoyed.

The most commonly mentioned favorite thing? Not surprisingly it was the gong. Not so much for it's musical quality, but because they thought it was so funny the way the man playing the gong would strike and immediately mute it by leaning his butt against it.

You've gotta love the sense of humor of 11-year-olds.