Do people think music is art or entertainment? Probably both. Let's just say that if you look for it in Google News, you find music news listed under "Entertainment," whereas the New York Times lists music under "Arts." Of course, Google News and the NYT are probably aiming toward slightly different audiences; the NYT features classical music reviews next to rock, rap, and jazz, while Google News's most popular or recent articles are about pop singers like Jessica Simpson and Katy Perry (or at least it was so when I was writing this column). In other words, the NYT is about what the NYT thinks ought to interesting, while Google tells you what people are interested in.
I'm not about to touch any kind of philosophical "what the nature of music ought to be" question. Rather, I'd like to tell you about something both artistic and entertaining: Extreme Cello.
Extreme Cello is a group of English cello-players from Sheffield - Claire, James, and Jeremy - who take on athletic and artistic challenges. Among other challenges, they have climbed the tallest mountains in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, carrying their cellos and playing at the end of their hike. Here, they're playing a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein tune after one of their hikes. On another occasion, they ran half a marathon while carrying cellos. Then they played their cellos at the end.
Cello-playing has thus become an entertaining sport in addition to being an art-form. Or if you think cello-playing was already a sport, you have to admit that it's now become sporting.
Currently, the Extreme Cellists are getting ready to take the 192-mile Coast-to-Coast Challenge, raising money along the way for children with cancer.
Jolly good show, what?
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