Dear Bruno,
I'm so glad you rejoined the fray as I was worried that despair over
EM's status, egged on by my own complaints, could have slowed your pen.
I apologize if my Neanderthal background rubs people the wrong way, but
I wish to express a really spooky/scary idea that cannot wait for
Halloween/Walpurgisnacht. An email from a peace organization regarding
8/6/45 reminded me that intercepted Japanese wires made it clear to US
military and political authorities that Japan was ready to surrender,
but Truman/Groves wanted to scare/bully Stalin (imagine that) and
experiment on unpopular live people, so he dropped the bombs
anyway. And of course we all know what the US Empire has been doing
worldwide since WWII now that Oliver Stone's Untold History of US has
spilled the beans. By tradition and on a proportion of population
basis, it seems to me lute is a lot more popular in Japan than in the
USA. Is it possible Japanese have more refined sensibilities?
Just yesterday I heard on a historical radio broadcast that Henry The
Navigator, the first Euro explorer to round the cape, once delivered 6
ships laden with African slaves to Lisbon. The nuns presented Henry to
me as a hero of Catholicism during grammar school. That greedy
bastard. Did they tell you the same story, Chris Wilke? They also
presented Bach as a religious hero even though he was actually an enemy
Lutheran.
Could it be that early music distills and displays something deep
within our common genocidal culture? Might it be that
multiethnic/multicultural Brazilians may hear something wicked in
European music presented in its purest forms? The murderous or
gold-grubbing sentiments of the Conquistadores, perhaps?
Look where the lute is preeminent--the Islamic world. India, if you
include the wire-strung lutes. Good players seem in the few
Lebanese/Egyptian CDs of live Oud performances that I have heard,
to enjoy almost God-like status, which I believe is needed by lute
players in order to survive.
The Oud is nearly unchanged since long before the Crusades, while
European lutes have largely disappeared from the Western public arena
despite the efforts of Dolmetsch and so many other masters. Obviously,
the muslim regions of the world like their lutes more than more western
zones. Could modern western musical authority's disdain for the lute
reflect a clash of cultures?
Univ. of Michigan's Juan Cole, a huge and perhaps preeminent modern
Middle East scholar, recently decried the widespread hatred among
Americans for Muslims, and argued/demonstrated that historical evidence
shows that the people of Iraq/Iran and related nations have
demonstrated far less warlike/genocidal inclinations than Western
JudaeoChristian ones.
Suzanne Bloch was a close relative of Albert Einstein, the great
pacifist. I believe the lute is an instrument of peace, and that is
why "they" seek to suppress it, preferring their loud clanging pianos
and blaring martial trumpets.
Could it be that the piano people have a deep seated desire to string
us all up with piano wire?
Mark Seifert, shivering in fear
From: Bruno Correia <bruno.l...@gmail.com>
To:
Cc: List LUTELIST <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 5:47 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
Dear Tom,
I play mostly solo and in duo, that's not just because I like it but
above all for financial reasons. Sure, a big ensemble will appeal to
more people, however, who's going to pay the bill?
Some on this board have even put forth the notion that "duos don't
draw audience, but trios or more will".
2013/8/5 <[1][1]t...@heartistrymusic.com>
Back to the original premise:
> The problem is lack of support - if not outright
> hostility - from the "mainstream" classical music
establishment.
> While my perception of what I and other early music
performers do
> is that we play classical music, many, many "official"
classical
> musicians do not share this view.
I have run into this dilemma trying to program early music as
a
board member for a small-town local non-profit that presents a
series of "classical" music concerts. The attitude of
violinists,
etc.
who prefer Brahms seems to be one of disdain for EM.
While concert attendance in our community is totally
unpredictable,
these board members are all too ready to point to "lutes" as an
example of low numbers, even though there have been lower
numbers for 19th and 20th century concerts. ( ... never mind
the
blizzard or sub-zero temperatures that probably had an impact!
)
Some on this board have even put forth the notion that "duos
don't
draw audience, but trios or more will". There is absolutely no
hard
data to support this, but they believe it anyway, even though
one
of
their pet performers (that happens to play a lot of Brahms)
consistently draws well and is - a duo!
Absurd, and one reason that I stepped down from that board.
How can the early music community begin to change these
perceptions?
Tom Draughon
Heartistry Music
[2][2]http://www.heartistry.com/
Chris Wilke wrote:
In America, I haven't found any lack of interest in lute or
early
music from the broader public. Many people who are
intimidated
by
perceived ritual and stuffy atmosphere of standard classical
concerts are drawn in by the look and sound of early
instruments.
Some marketers have recognized this: early music is quite
well
represented in classical music station playlists. (I've just
been
invited to give a one hour interview/lute performance on our
local
public radio station here in Rochester, for example.) My own
solo
concerts and performances by the student early music
ensembles
I've
directed have drawn healthy crowds. This is good, but there
are
larger issues. The problem is lack of support - if not
outright
hostility - from the "mainstream" classical music
establishment.
While my perception of what I and other early music
performers
do
is that we play classical music, many, many "official"
classical
musicians do not share this view. Indeed, at colleges where I
was
employed, significant public response was ultimately
detrimental as
it drew the flagrant ire of at least two tenured professors
with
great influence in the departments. Both of these professors
actively petitioned against having any early music
performance
activities at their respective colleges, ostensibly on the
grounds
that it distracted students from giving full attention to the
"real" program of instruction. (One of the professors had the
gaul
to tell me to my face, "You're not a real ensemble because
you
don't play in parts." WTF? The majority of what we performed
was
renaissance polyphony!) I think they were afraid we were
making
them look bad. Concerts were not free to the public; box
office
receipts showed that we were bringing in actual revenue. And
maybe,
just maybe, my esteemed senior colleagues were jealous also
of
the
fact that students were learning and having fun. Oh well,
those
professors are still there doing the same old thing and I am
still
struggling very much to find work years later. Good for them.
Chris
Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A.
Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
[3]www.christopherwilke.com
----- Original Message -----
From: gary <[4][3]magg...@sonic.net>
To: lutelist <[5][4]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Cc:
Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2013 4:06 AM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
I got into early music 'cause I hate crowds. My jazz
performances
were attracting too many people. Of course, you heard about
the
lutenist who won the lottery. When asked what he was going to
do
with his winnings, he said, "I'm going to work 'til they run
out."
Early music, like jazz and chamber music, is a niche market.
Upon
being asked how one can make money in music, Henry Mancini
said,
"If you want to make money in music, go into band uniforms."
Gary
On 2013-08-02 05:17, [1][6][5]erne...@aquila.mus.br wrote: >
I
have done
the same for a small baroque orchestra at the University > of
Sao
Paulo, USP, > with little gain as well. The group has a lute
and a
theorbo in it. > Any hints are welcome. > We have thought
everything from flash-mobs to pairing music with food, >
theater,
baroque dance, text, whatever... > So far our biggest hits
have
been opera and baroque dance, costly > events which we cannot
do on
a regular basis > due to budget size. > Ernesto Ett > 11-99
242120
4 > 11-28376692 > > > > On 31.07.2013, at 22:46, Bruno
Correia
<[2][7][6]bruno.l...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Dear members of
the
list, > >
I have been at pains trying to raise interest in our
beloved
>
instrument down here in Brazil. I've given speeches, played
solo
and > chamber concerts... but despite all efforts the
general
public and > also > the musicians (professionals or
amateurs)
simply don't get turned on. > It is a sad fact that the lute
and
the early music performance > practice did not reach the
University here. So we don't exist > academically speaking.
>
>
Would anybody be willing to list some strategies that could
be
used
> to > help disseminate the lute and its repertoire? > -- >
Bruno Correia > > Pesquisador autonomo da pratica e
interpretac,ao
> historicamente informada no alaude e teorba. > Doutor em
Praticas Interpretativas pela > Universidade Federal do
Estado do
Rio de Janeiro. > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see
list
information at >
[3][8][7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:[9][8]erne...@aquila.mus.br
2. mailto:[10][9]bruno.l...@gmail.com
3.
[11][10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
Tom Draughon
Heartistry Music
[12][11]http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html
714 9th Avenue West
Ashland, WI 54806
[13]715-682-9362
--
To get on or off this list see list information at
[14][12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
Bruno Correia
Pesquisador autonomo da pratica e interpretac,ao
historicamente informada no alaude e teorba.
Doutor em Praticas Interpretativas pela
Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
--
References
1. mailto:[13]t...@heartistrymusic.com
2. [14]http://www.heartistry.com/
3. [15]http://www.christopherwilke.com/
4. mailto:[16]magg...@sonic.net
5. mailto:[17]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
6. mailto:[18]erne...@aquila.mus.br
7. mailto:[19]bruno.l...@gmail.com
8. [20]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
9. mailto:[21]erne...@aquila.mus.br
10. mailto:[22]bruno.l...@gmail.com
11. [23]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
12. [24]http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html
13. tel:715-682-9362
14. [25]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:t...@heartistrymusic.com
2. http://www.heartistry.com/
3. mailto:magg...@sonic.net
4. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
5. mailto:erne...@aquila.mus.br
6. mailto:bruno.l...@gmail.com
7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
8. mailto:erne...@aquila.mus.br
9. mailto:bruno.l...@gmail.com
10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
11. http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html
12. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
13. mailto:t...@heartistrymusic.com
14. http://www.heartistry.com/
15. http://www.christopherwilke.com/
16. mailto:magg...@sonic.net
17. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
18. mailto:erne...@aquila.mus.br
19. mailto:bruno.l...@gmail.com
20. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
21. mailto:erne...@aquila.mus.br
22. mailto:bruno.l...@gmail.com
23. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
24. http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html
25. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
