THE MUSIC GOES ROUND AND AROUND - BY BASIL TSCHAIKOV
The story of how the performance of music and audience expectations
have changed over the last century, told from a musician's personal
experience
In The Music Goes Round and Around, musician and educator
Basil Tschaikov chronicles from many different perspectives
how during his lifetime vast technological developments and
changes in society have affected the music profession, music
industry, music loving audiences and music itself.
During his wide-ranging career of more than 60 years as a performer,
teacher, writer, administrator and, for many years, a negotiator
on behalf of musicians in most branches of the profession, he
describes these changes as seen from the inside by a musician
who has recorded his observations in the way that a location
photographer would aim to capture the surrounding diverse elements
of life.
The author points out that although he starts out from an autobiographical
basis with personal recollections of what it was like to play
in great orchestras such as Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic
and Walter Legge's Philharmonia, that is nevertheless the springboard
for a wide-ranging look at the striking changes in musical approach
and public taste that have occurred in the last 100 years, especially
the massive changes technology has brought about. The historical
perspective in fact extends back to the end of the 19th
Century, as Basil Tschaikov includes recollections heard from
his father, a distinguished clarinettist, and both his grandfathers,
who were professional musicians in Europe before coming to England.
Furthermore, not just classical music is covered - the classical
music "scene" and public response to music is viewed
in the perspective of the more recent developments of many kinds
of popular and world music.
This rare panoramic view of an immensely complex vista is made
immediately accessible and alive by the author's first hand
recollections of experiences involving not only great musicians
but also fascinating personalities in the world of music. They
have been some of the most vital driving forces that have indeed
made the music go round and around.
The Music Goes Round and Around is available this month from
any reputable bookseller, Amazon, other Internet book sites.
ISBN 978 1844 26 6470
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Between 1943 and 1979 Basil Tschaikov was a member of three
of the world's finest orchestras - the London Philharmonic,
Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia - playing with conductors
such as Sir Thomas Beecham, Bruno Walter, Victor de Sabata,
Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Carlo Maria Giulini and
Sir Simon Rattle. During that time and subsequently he was also
increasingly active in a wide sphere of activities. From 1979
until 1989 he was administrative and artistic director of the
National Centre for Orchestral Studies, attached to Goldsmiths'
College, University of London, which he had conceived and initiated.
This was a radical operation enabling music college graduates
to become familiar with the conditions of playing in a high
quality orchestra of professional standard and to gain experience
by working with outstanding international conductors and performers
before taking up their careers. Additionally, he was the prime
force in the creation of a unique archive, the Music Performance
Research Centre, now Music Preserved. This archive of non-commercial
recordings of public concert and opera performances has enabled
many thousands of valuable performances to be preserved and
made available, free, for enjoyment and study.
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