Paul Simon on music today

Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel) on the future of the “album” concept:

I don’t think the album is going to disappear for several reasons … It’s not that people aren’t listening to albums.  They’re just doing it on shuffle.  What that does is it makes albums more eclectic and more interesting.  But if an artist is unique enough they should be able to hold your attention for the 40 or 50 minutes of an album.  There’s something about that length of time on our DNA. We like to hear it.

He also has a positive view on the future of music:

So many people are studying music in schools now and many of the schools have really good music departments.  It seems there is much, if not more, interest in music in this generation.  I don’t foresee that it will just become about the three minute pop song.  I think that’s appropriate for the 12, 13, 14 year olds, but kids outgrow that eventually.

Cited in: Iain Shedden, “Beautiful or What?”, The Weekend Australian, April 16 2011.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

, ,

Featured Content

Through the Long Night
Title: Through the Long Night Composer: Greg SmithText: Edward Carpenter Instrumentation: TTBBProduct medium: PDF score
Lord, Heal My Soul – Psalm 40 (41)
TITLE: Lord, Heal My Soul TEXT: Psalm 40 (41): 2-5, 13-14. R. v.5 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano SAMPLE:  
The significance of the individual
  “You are an extremely valuable, worthwhile, significant person even though your present circumstances may have you feeling otherwise.” – James Newmann, American mathematician
Musing by Moonlight
Title: Musing by Moonlight Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Duet Level: Piano I – level I (5 finger position, left and right hands) Product medium: PDF score & MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
Practising at every opportunity
The conductor Stokowski was co-conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.  He was rehearsing his own orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.  The orchestra, however, was used to playing Ravel’s exuberant orchestration. Charles O’Connell recalled: “In the midst of the rehearsal, one of the second violinists busied himself practising the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which […]
Out of practice
“All I have left is a long nose and a fourth finger out of practice.” Chopin, in Scotland, unable to visit his friend Julian in London because of ill health. Cited in: Zaluski, Iweo & Pamela (1993) The Scottish Autumn of Frederick Chopin. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, p.23.
Composition
GREG SMITH Composer, arranger, and pianist Greg Smith is an Australian composer and pianist based in New South Wales.  Greg majored in piano and composition at The University of Newcastle, completing a Bachelor of Music with first-class honours with a university medal in 2001.  He completed a Master of Creative Arts in piano performance, studying […]
Loneliness versus solitude
“Language has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone, and the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.” – Paul Johannes Tillich, German American theologian and philosopher
The power of enthusiasm
“Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It beats money, power and influence.” Henry Chester
Ravel and food
Ravel was touring America, in 1928, but was having some interesting experiences with food. One on occasion: The Mason & Hamlin Company not only provided a piano for Ravel’s use at his hotel, and another for his tour, but also sent him a piano-tuner capable of acting as a courier, interpreter, and general assistant.  This […]