This week, Alex Ross, the music critic at The New Yorker, posts online a review comparing classical music streaming apps. Apple recently introduced an app titled “Apple Music Classical,” dedicated to the longhair genre. It comes as no surprise that Alex prefers CDs and albums to streaming, for the seemingly more real sound but also the better to hold and get the feel of something in your hands as you listen, and something in depth to read, from liner notes to scholarly musical explanations, and something to sleeve and shelve in a physical collection. And Alex is of course opposed to the inequality of musician remuneration created by the streaming business. I’m not sure the music business historically has ever been all that different from the claims Alex describes plague today’s players. From garage band to the main stage at a national venue is a long and winding road, always has been, a rough go of potholes and sinkholes. Some of his arguments seem unsound. He faults streaming for one for damaging the environment. But what happens to all that plastic CDs are made from once they don’t resale at the garage sale? Talking about the studious background the Apple app provides, he slows to a kind of stooped criticism: “A podcast called ‘The Story of Classical’…is surprisingly square in approach, resembling music-appreciation lectures at an old-fashioned community college.” One wonders how many community college lectures the Harvard educated Alex Ross has ever attended.
I’d not heard of these classical music apps Ross is comparing. I decided, on his recommendation, to try out Idagio, a classical music dedicated app out of Berlin. It’s great. The app is clean and clear and easy to navigate. And because it’s dedicated to one genre, I immediately felt surrounded by less clutter than my current music subscription app, which is YouTube Music. But could I get guitar, gypsy jazz, Leo Brouwer out of Idagio? Alex Ross’s otherwise excellent book “The Rest is Noise” (2007) is quiet on guitar. Have a look at the Index: a tiny Pete Seeger mention, but no Segovia; Dave Brubeck appearance, but no Julian Bream; Captain Beefheart of all people, but no Leo Brouwer. And of course all the classical music dudes. The noise discussed is primarily 20th Century classical music noise. Admitted to the Royal College of Music in the 1940s, Julian Bream was told not to bring his guitar. So I was surprised to find in Idagio not only Segovia and Bream but also Brouwer as well as Jimi Hendrix – “Little Wing” (1967) performed on violoncello by Peter Hudler (2022). Also I found Django Reinhardt. One cool characteristic of classical music is its profound ability to delightfully surprise the ears and notions, and one surprise is its regular use of the popular, the folk, the natural.
Speaking of ears, I recently am wearing a new pair of hearing aids. These are stupendous, allowing streaming of sound directly through the aids, sort of like wearing headphones. I can turn this feature on or off with an app. The phone is hands free, the sound in my ears, or in my head, which can feel a little weird until you get used to it, not from the phone speaker. And there are easy to change settings, including one for recorded music, another for musician, and another for live music, as well as noisy environment, and TV streaming directly in the ears via Bluetooth connection – so the others in the room can listen at regular volume. Sound has never sounded so good.
And speaking of sound and guitar, here’s a link to a short driveway solo jam recorded the other night in the driveway under the maple tree while Susan picked up falling apples and tossed them into a bucket.
The Coming of the Toads 