Re: [microsound] Classical music is booming, contrary to the pessimism of most inthe business

[Guillaume Grenier <grenier.g@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 01/06/03 23:03, macrosound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx said in living color:

> Entirely accurate.  That doesn't make it any less boring.  Not that many
> people like the music I make and I rarely do myself.  I keep doing it
> because every once and awhile I feel like I'm saying something to myself
> and if I mold it and shape it just a little then other people might be
> able to hear it too.  I have great compassion for fellow musicians.  I
> respect the time and energy that anyone puts forth to create rather than
> destroy but just because someone spent a lot of time on something doesn't
> mean it's particularly meaningful.  It may be more interesting than a
> giant twine ball but it shares the same fleeting amusement and little
> else.
> 
> How many performances have changed your life?  Made you think differently?
> or inspired you to create, share, love or even dance? I can think of two
> such performances and I consider myself lucky.  I think of it like being a
> paramedic: if you save just one life then it is worth it but damn, it's a
> depressing job.

I actually agree with what you're saying here. But my beef lies elsewhere.

You are of course entitled to reject/not enjoy large chunks of music
pertaining to some period/current. (Though I suppose your dismissal of
everything composed after Stravinsky (!) might stem from a lack of proximity
with the music you reject -- the big names I mentioned in my first reply to
your post. Some music from the aforementioned composers will take more time
[depending on the individual who's listening] to digest than others. But
maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you are familiar with most of this music. But then, I
wonder why you would write such comments as "I welcome you to explain the
purpose of someone meticouslously crafting a score that sounds like an
orangutan playing the piano"... which sounds very much to me like the
typical comments you hear from newcomers to modern art who say "Why the hell
did that guy paint this jumbled mess? There's no point in that.")

What you're not entitled to and what I'm taking offense to is that you not
only reject this huge amount of music for yourself... but also for others
(The quote again: "most modern classical is boring, trite and lazy"). If you
would simply have said "I find most modern classical music boring, trite and
lazy", you would not have shown the disrespect for others' opinions that
emanated from your words and we could have had a fine discussion -- which I
have begun to develop anyway in my previous message and in the previous
paragraph of this one.

g.

-- 
Guillaume Grenier - grenier.g@xxxxxxxxxxxx

in space there is no north  in space there is no south
in space there is no east   in space there is no west

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