"I don't believe in proselytizing, I really don't. Everyone I feel should support what they believe in. I have a daughter who believes only in animal rights, and she supports anti-vivisection, and that's fine. I have friends who only support AIDS research because they have AIDS. I think that's right, they support what they're involved in, what they believe in. I have other friends who support cancer groups because their children have cancer. Everyone should be free to support what they believe in. I just happen to believe that contemporary music is a very vital part of my life. And without it, life would not be so wonderful, and so rich, and thrilling in every new piece and adventure."
Somehow, I missed her obituary over the weekend, so now's the time to spend a few minutes paying proper tribute to one of modern music's---and Southern California's---greatest cultural champions of the last half-century.
Just take a look at her commissions---and this list is likely out of date: Nixon in China, Music for 18 Musicians, Antiphonies, Delusion of the Fury, L'Amour de Loin, Different Trains, Studies for Player Piano, Salome Dances for Peace, Rouse's Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski's 4th. The list reads like a "greatest hits" catalog of the Postmodern Musical Canon. If you have had even a passing acquaintance with so-called contemporary music, you have almost certainly watched, or listened to, some magnificent act of creation that she helped, however slyly, bring into being. What is truly astonishing about it is not only her dedication to music that would likely never be embraced by the masses, or her unbending devotion to constantly pushing musical boundaries, even to the present day, but to her critical judgment: This woman just flat-out knew great music when she heard it, and didn't hesitate to nurture and champion it (even if some other composers didn't!).
Others who knew or met her are far more qualified to sing her praises:
"Her commissions were seldom large. She wanted to spread the wealth as best she could and always flew coach and stayed in modest hotels so that more money might go to help others. But she managed to come up with just the seed money necessary to make something happen that wouldn't otherwise happen.""One composer I particularly wanted to introduce was Robert Erickson, whose music I had admired from our days together at KPFA. Betty hadn't heard of Bob, but I brought him up from UC San Diego, with a few musicians. After the program she agreed to underwrite an entire disc of his music."
"Despite her financial benevolence, she did not wear it. Indeed, in this city of cars and car status, I was always amused to see her driving around in a Toyota Carolla."
"Through all the exasperation, Betty was easy to love. I loved the unpredictability; you couldn't sell her on the late Beethoven Quartets, but when the L.A. Opera came to town with Handel's Julius Caesar she demanded to attend to all five performances. She let be known her hatred of Esa-Pekka's new Piano Concerto, yet welcomed Yefim Bronfman to practice the work on her piano, day after day. I doubt if she knew, or cared about, the difference."
The world is a poorer place for her passing---and right now, with the madness of war and depression at our doorsteps, it hits doubly hard. We need another Modern Medici, or seven, or seven thousand, just like her more than ever now.
---Vitelius
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