Musical anti-Semitism?

The announcement that the Israel Chamber Orchestra will perform music by Richard Wagner at Bayreuth, the first time an Israeli orchestra will perform Wagner's music in Germany, rekindles yet again the controversial subject of that composer's anti-Semitism as well as the ban on playing his music in Israel, a sequela of the Nazi's propagandizing use of it in during the Third Reich.

There are numerous lengthy treatises on the topic of anti-Semitism in music. This will not be one of them. However, I was reminded of a letter I had written in 2003 touching on the subject addressed to the management of New York's classical music radio station WQXR. At the time, WQXR was a commercial operation owned and operated by The New York Times. I thought it might be of interest to reproduce that letter here:

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7 October 2003

The Management

WQXR
122 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011

To Whom It May Concern:

As a lifelong avid listener to WQXR, as well as a reader of The New York Times since grade school, I am writing to express in the strongest terms my utter disapproval of the dismissal in August of announcer Gregg Whiteside, insofar as it has been reported in the media. The main source of public information appears to be an item in the New York Post dated 8/14/03, followed by items on the Musical America and Andante internet news services. While it seems likely that there are details being withheld from the public, I believe the public is entitled to respond according to the information as presented.

I will here state for the record that I have no connection or affiliation with Gregg Whiteside; have never had any contact or communication with him; and therefore have no vested interest, other than as stated herein.

The management of WQXR and its parent company, The New York Times, appear satisfied to leave stand the public perception that Mr. Whiteside has been summarily dismissed without notice or severance benefits, and more to the point, without due process, for having been overheard in private conversation making comments characterized by Toby Usnik, Director of Public Relations for The New York Times, as “inappropriate”, based upon the interpretation of the eavesdropping passerby. Simply stated, this is unacceptable.

There is an evident conflict between the station’s statement that “he admitted making” the undisclosed “inappropriate comments” and Mr. Whiteside’s statement to the New York Post that “they’ve destroyed an innocent man”. Irrespective of that, it was ostensibly a private conversation, not an on-the-air comment, for which he has been dismissed. That this apparent exercise in political correctness resulting in the censure of Mr. Whiteside’s right of free speech emanates from The New York Times strikes me as highly ironic, especially in light of the recent imbroglio over Jayson Blair. Since the unsubstantiated allegation is that Mr. Whiteside’s private comments were “anti-Semitic”, the presumption is that these comments somehow justify his being deemed unworthy to be in the employ of your company. While I do not know the terms of his contract, it is hard to believe that an employee’s personal views, even if expressed aloud in private conversation, can be grounds for termination. That, of course, would be an issue for him and his counsel to consider.

In addition, this appears to be a case of pandering to the company’s bottom-line interests, i.e. the advertisers, rather than to those of its listenership. I know I am not alone in feeling this represents a breach of trust between the radio station and its audience, a betrayal of the good will assiduously courted for so long, and so generously afforded you in return.

If, on the other hand, the issue is indeed anti-Semitism, and that WQXR’s dismissal of Mr. Whiteside is purportedly to somehow protect its listenership from being tainted by any suggestion thereof, then one could contend that WQXR should no longer broadcast the music of such composers as Wagner, of course, but also Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, and even Bach, all of whom have been alleged to either be anti-Semitic or to have held attitudes of hostility toward Jews. While it can rationally and logically be argued, and I would agree with the argument, that even if the allegations had validity, such personal views have little or no bearing upon their musical output, WQXR cannot afford to make such a case without exposing as hypocritical its position vis-à-vis Gregg Whiteside, whose comments, whatever they may have been, were made not on the air but in private. You cannot have it both ways.

As a Jew, I am sensitively attuned to suggestions of anti-Semitism; however, as an American who values highly our Constitutionally-protected right of free speech, I cannot condone the evident infringement of Mr. Whiteside’s rights in this matter. Additionally, as a professional musician, I have noted with dismay in recent years the increasingly repetitive, unimaginative, and unadventurous music programming on WQXR*; in view of which, I had come to feel that Mr. Whiteside’s superlative on-air performance remained one of its strongest assets and inducements to continued listening.

It is my opinion that WQXR either owes Gregg Whiteside reinstatement of his employment or owes the public a satisfactory explanation to justify its dismissal of him. Pending one or the other of these, I have determined that, henceforth, I shall no longer be a listener of WQXR.

Respectfully submitted,

Neil D. Schnall

*I have extensive thoughts about this topic, as I have spent many hours a week tuned to WQXR. This would be the subject of a separate letter, however. I would, if solicited to do so, be happy to provide my thoughts - but somehow, I doubt this will happen.

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I never received a reply to this letter, which I thought to be very bad form on their part. They could at least have sent an acknowledgement, even if they were bound by whatever confidentiality agreement they had reached with Whiteside not to disclose any particulars.

The New York Times unloaded WQXR to WNYC in 2009, whereupon it became a public radio station. It is interesting to me, rereading this now, that since the acquisition by WNYC (to which I had turned as a substitute in 2003), I have resumed listening avidly to WQXR. To my great dismay, though, I continue to find the programming choices on WQXR repetitive, unimaginative, and unadventurous. Some things never change.

Couple of addenda:

First, I should add to my follow-up comments that Gregg Whiteside was NOT reinstated, nor was there ever (to my knowledge) any further public statement issued.

Secondly, the following is a link to the page on the current WQXR's website discussing the appearance of the Israel Chamber Orchestra mentioned at the top. A number of the comments contributed by listeners have a bearing on this discussion. There's also a comment by me with some interesting information about Wagner.

http://www.wqxr.org/articles/wqxr-features/2011/jul/25/israeli-orchestra-breaks-cultural-taboo-plays-wagner-germany/