Table Of Contentclassical music:
expect the unexpected
c l a s s i c a l m u s i c
e x p e c t t h e u n e x p e c t e d
k e n t n a g a n o
with inge kloepfer
translated from german by
hans-christian oeser
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago
© McGill- Queen’s University Press 2019
ISBN 978-0-7735-5634-8 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5753-6 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5754-3 (ePUB)
Legal deposit first quarter 2019
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year
invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier,
le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des
Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Nagano, Kent, 1951–
[Erwarten Sie Wunder! English]
Classical music : expect the unexpected / Kent Nagano with Inge Kloepfer ;
translated from German by Hans-Christian Oeser.
Includes bibliographical references.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-0-7735-5634-8 (hardcover). – ISBN 978-0-7735-5753-6 (ePDF). –
ISBN 978-0-7735-5754-3 (ePUB)
1. Nagano, Kent, 1951–. 2. Conductors (Music)–Biography. 3. Music–History and
criticism. I. Kloepfer, Inge, 1964–, author ii. Title: Erwarten Sie Wunder! English.
ml422.n33a3 2019 784.2092 c2018-906119-7
c2018-906120-0
This book was typeset in Sabon.
“That’s the pentecostal alphabet – the letters of fire – that
God gave us: His greatest gift, the ability to talk and to communicate.
And a big part of communication is music.”
Leonard Bernstein (1918–90)
contents
prologue ix
chapter one
on cattle breeders and trumpets · 3
A Fishing Village Filled with Sound 3 ·
Mother’s Determination 6 · The Miracle of Morro Bay 9 ·
Music – School – Music 13 · On Teachers and Structure 17 ·
The Golden Age of Classical Music 20 · My Dream 24
Bach – Through the Heart to the Head 27
chapter two
declaration of bankruptcy in philadelphia · 41
Concert in a Ghost Town 41 · Death in Installments 43 ·
Greetings from Lehman Brothers 47 · A Wasting Disease in
Wonderland 49 · Gray, and Even Grayer 52 · Changing Values,
Changing World 56 · Narrow Education 57 ·
Wishful Thinking, Wished-for People 59
Schoenberg – Collapse and New Beginning 63
chapter three
classical music for a time of crisis? · 77
Outrage Is the Beginning of All Things 77 · Imminent
Disappearance 78 · Not Just for Elites 80 · The Search for
Meaning 83 · Man’s Foe 87 · On the Power of Aesthetic
Experiences 88 · A Matter of Social Survival 92 · What’s Your
Mind Made Of? 94 · The Promises of Music 97
Beethoven – Superstar 100
viii Contents
chapter four
heroes on ice – and no compromises · 113
Strange Sounds for Young Folk 113 · An Orchestra
without a Conductor 116 · Anything for the Turnaround 119 ·
Strauss, or The Path to a Program Idea 121 · Outside the
Door 125 · Nothing Lasts Forever 127 · Frank Zappa, or
The Serious Side of the Artist 129
Messiaen – A Glimpse into the Beyond 135
chapter five
nothing but music in one’s head · 149
Diabolus in Musica 149 · Music Can Engender More
than Words 152 · Have a Good Cry! 156 · Sweet Expectations 160
· Heard a Thousand Times 162 · Nothing Comes for Free 166 ·
Classical Music or Pop? 169 · A Matter of Perspective 170
Bruckner – Dissolution of Boundaries 174
chapter six
the unanswered question · 189
Helmut Schmidt: In No Humor for Pessimism 190 ·
William Friedkin: A Trip with Beethoven 198 · Julie Payette:
Good Morning, Houston 203 · Dirk Nowitzki: Basketball
Is Jazz 208 · Yann Martel: Perfect Silence 213
Bernstein and Ives – Whither America? 217
acknowledgments · 233
literature · 235
prologue
What is classical music? It is an adventure we embark upon once
we are willing to engage with it. Classical music transports us
to another world. There it unfolds its tremendous power. And
because of this power it can enrich us immensely, especially
today in these troubled, accelerating times. That’s what this
book is about.
There is another way to answer the question. Classical music is a
universe that expands as soon as you enter it. There you will come
across everything that this art form has produced in the course of
almost a thousand years: medieval music, renaissance and baroque
music, music of the classical and romantic periods, finally new
music; opera, symphonic works, church and chamber music. When
I speak of classical music in this book over and over again, the uni-
verse to which I refer encompasses all aesthetic forms of expression
that have been, and are being, created through the arrangement of
tones. In classical music lies our entire Western tradition, the great
concept of development up to the modern era, and the “canon”
with its treasure trove of works from different periods. In it lies
our never-ending human creativity, which constantly brings forth
works in this art form. But it is also where community experience
lies, as well as social encounters in opera houses and concert halls.
And last but not least, a consensus on the significance and value of
this art form. That’s what I mean by classical music.
