On Oct. 20, 2019, Alma received the European Culture Prize in a ceremony at the Vienna State Opera. After thanking baritone Thomas Hampson for his generous words of praise, Alma made a plea for melody and for harmony in the modern world: "until now, I have always composed melodies and harmonies just as they pour out from my heart. But I have often been told: "as a modern composer, you’ll soon have to forget your melodies, and concentrate on dissonance, as befits our modern age." But maybe this award today means that a more tolerant age is dawning, when melody and beauty will once again be permitted. Perhaps this is a message that there is more to European Culture than just dissonance. Perhaps there is also a place in European Culture for harmony. And how beautiful it would be if this message could go out into the world from Vienna, from the city of music."
Alma Deutscher,European Culture Prize,Harmony,Melody,
On Oct. 20, 2019, Alma received the European Culture Prize in a ceremony at the Vienna State Opera. After thanking baritone Thomas Hampson for his generous words of praise, Alma made a plea for melody and for harmony in the modern world: "until now, I have always composed melodies and harmonies just as they pour out from my heart. But I have often been told: "as a modern composer, you’ll soon have to forget your melodies, and concentrate on dissonance, as befits our modern age." But maybe this award today means that a more tolerant age is dawning, when melody and beauty will once again be permitted. Perhaps this is a message that there is more to European Culture than just dissonance. Perhaps there is also a place in European Culture for harmony. And how beautiful it would be if this message could go out into the world from Vienna, from the city of music."
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