Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/10/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Carl, Thanks for the link, an interesting and though-provoking article indeed. He makes a lot of valid points. The one thing that troubles me is the implicit (or not so implicit) assumption that art must be difficult to be Art. I think that we tend to forget that many of the great classical composers were the pop musicians of their day, and most of the great pieces of music we know and love today were simple commission jobs for some prince or king or other rich supporter. Examples abound, like Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. So I am not prepared to discard all of today's popular music as garbage that caters to the lowest common denominator. Much of it is, to be sure, just as much music was 200 years ago (as the author also points out). But I am firmly convinced that, for example, in 200 years Lennon/McCartney will be regarded as the greatest composers of the 20th century, and will be played and revered in a similar manner to the respect we accord Mozart today. Similarly with writing: I confess to never having had the patience to plow through a James Joyce novel, I prefer more accessible writers like Hemingway or Steinbeck. But does it mean that Joyce is "better" than Hemingway because he is more difficult to read? I think not. Nathan Carl Pultz wrote: > Folks, > > There is an article today on Salon that might interest a number of > readers here. Ostensibly about the present and future of classical > music, the author's argument has relevance to all creativity, and might > be particularly thought provoking for those of use who utilize this > democratic (ie. relatively easy, accessible) craft in the hope of > achieving Art. > > http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2002/10/02/classical/print.html > > Carl > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html