Ardith Hinton wrote to James Bradley <=-
Hi, James! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:
NOT so recently... <EG>
"Great" orchestral works in the day, were [...] disposable.
Yes... and the same also applies to various other types
of music. I heard that a patron of J.S. Bach, for
example, insisted on a new chorale every week. It seems
the desire for novelty has been a factor for a long time.
...
Opera trickled down to the masses as operetta (e.g. Gilbert
& Sullivan) and later as the "Broadway" musical (e.g.
Rogers & Hammerstein). Now, when did you last hear either?
:-))
I'm afraid show tunes don't get much play around here. <L> Last heard on the CD player, (Ya... I'm "old school"! |-) early Dave Mathews Band.
Now that you mention it, works of a choir
A cautionary note... I take it chorales were not
intended to be sung only by a choir. Martin Luther
evidently had the idea that the congregation of the church
should be allowed to sing along. Good pedagogical
strategy.... :-)
As in, Martin Luther King (Jr.)? Before my time, (both) but I'll assume they were named after the fella that you speak about. I just remember sitting in a Catholic/Orthodox church before I could read, listening to everybody singing while looking at a hymnal. I just assumed that's the way it was always done, and there was something wrong with me if I didn't get with the program.
Hmmm... "Pedagogical"... <Thumbing through the dictionary.> No wonder I had never seen the word before. (-;
would also apply to the "pop" category of yore. B-]
Uh... yes & no. Until relatively recently, the vast
majority of the common people were illiterate. The "popular" music of earlier times is largely unknown to us now because the
gramophone had yet to be invented & the few folks who
understood how to write it down were seldom motivated to do
so. (I imagine you & I & Dallas & Richard would have made
a bare living as wandering minstrels in those days!) Some
of it, however, is still in use for various reasons. One
is that familiar tunes were often used to accompany
religious poetry... another is that years ago the Lord of
the Manor was usually expected to pay for a house of
worship for his own family as well as for the serfs who
lived on his estate. In my irreverent "1066 and All That"
interpretation, Bach had to keep coming up with new hymn
tunes so his wealthy patron would not suffer the
embarrassment of falling asleep in church. Certain folk
songs & hymns may have survived because they came to the
attention of or were composed by someone who had the skills
to pass them along. The average person may be unable to
read four-part harmony as the choir sees it, but chances
are they'll recognize the soprano line..... :-)
Ah... Those treble chargers ruled before electricity was harnessed! <L>
Now, the first music "recording" in standard notation - even if a phenomenal work and heard whistled throughout the land - did not displace the author from the clutches of poverty. The artist had to depend on a Lord for sustenance. I only wish to point out the disparity that today's flavour-of-the-day needs one novelty song to never have to work another day, where the "great" composers would more often die a pauper.
To this day, folks in the entertainment business say "you're
only as good as your last [gig]". But once in awhile a song
which has dropped off the Top Ten list will eventually
resurface as a Golden Oldie or whatever. I had a Beatles
poster in my band classroom after the initial excitement
had subsided, and was often asked "Who are the Beatles?"
Uh-huh. There's a senior citizen in our community band who comes to life when we play songs from the 1920's. I come to life
when we do stuff where all one has to do is read the notes
(baroque & classical era). Different folks have different
talents. My attitude is "I am who I am... take it or leave
it!" Some folks actually like me that way. If the younger
crowd views things from a different perspective, they can
make their own unique contribution too.... :-)
If they asked why "Beatles" was spelled wrong, you knew they had no place in pop culture? <G+D>
Just yesterday, I was researching stuff on the community Internet connection, where a fella about a decade older than me was streaming a pop radio station over the speakers. A song or two found me bopping my head, but mostly I was contemplating to put on my own favourite radio station on my computer station, to start a volume war. <EG>
Avoiding hostilities, (Who in their right mind prefers it?) I still wished he would use a set of headphones instead of expecting everyone to share his taste. You mentioned how taste could be such a subjective thing, but until my preference went more eclectic/international, I too didn't understand why everyone didn't enjoy power chord-rock. There's that glass house again. <L>
... James
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