Christopher White, a professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, stated that the music world should “fullname” all composers to smooth inequities between White men and female, non-White artists.
In an op-ed for Slate, White noted that musicians refer to the last names of composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach — all of whom are Western Europeans — while they use the full names of women and “composers of color” like Alma Mahler, Florence Price, and Henry Burleigh.
Noting that American classical music is “reckoning with its racist and sexist history,” White referred to the accelerated pace of revisionism in the music field — including working groups and online resources at universities — as justification for “fullnaming.”
“These canonized demigods became so ensconced in elite musical society’s collective consciousness that only one word was needed to evoke their awesome specter,” wrote White, who also said that referring to composers by their only one name “created a hierarchical system that, whether or not you find it useful, can now only be seen as outdated and harmful.”
OH STFU! These Workers cannot order a cheeseburger without seeing inequality, racism, blah, blah, blah! Everything has legends that can be recognized by one name They earned that because they are greats!
We use Mozart because Jeff Mozart wasnt famous. Everyone knows that Mozart is W. Amadeus Mozart. Like Hitler is Adolf Hitler, not his US Army nephew…Patrick. Patrick wasnt responsible for the Final Solution. Patrick isnt even known for his Purple Heart.