Howard,
That's BS, because you should know that a goodly portion of the Mass nicely
predates the events in question, having been composed previously as an
oratorio "Davidde Penitente".
And I distinctly recall a famous musicologist referring to the choice of
c-minor as a "slap in the face of excclesiastical taste".
RT
----- Original Message -----
From: "howard posner" <howardpos...@ca.rr.com>
To: "Lute List" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 1:12 AM
Subject: [LUTE] "Self-expression" ?
On Jul 2, 2011, at 7:01 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote:
In fact a public expression of feelings through the choice of c-minor for
his Great Mass did cost Mozart his job in Salzburg.
What cost Mozart his job in Salzburg was that he didn't want it. He
insisted that he be released, and it took months to finally settle the
issue, with the Archbishop's steward, Count Arco, urging him to stay
before famously kicking him out of the room in exasperation in May 1781.
The C minor Mass dates from two years later (such parts of it as managed
to finish were performed during a visit to Salzburg in 1783), and I'm not
aware that anyone remarked on the choice of key at the time.
However _private_ expression was practiced earlier, from mid17th century
on.
As far as I can follow it (and following it isn't easy) this entire
discussion about "self-expression" suffers from terminal vagueness. What
exactly are we talking about? Do we mean specifically Composer X
intending that the listener interpret the music as an expression of what
Composer X is feeling? Or that Composer X intends to express any kind of
personal, subjective feeling? Or are we talking about intensity of
expression? Are Gesualdo madrigals self expressive? Is self expression
Berlioz mirroring his infatuation with Harriet Smithson in the Symphonie
Fantastique? Beethoven expressing his love of the country in the
Pastorale? (and if so, what about Vivaldi in La Primavera?)
A discussion of this sort really needs carefully defined terms or it
becomes, literally, nonsense.
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