John Howell wrote:
My theory (and I really miss being able to discuss it with Andrew) is
that the return to simplicity and melody in the early 20th century was
in reaction to the increasing complexity of late romantic harmony, and
that 20th century American popular music was and is the result of that
stylistic change, while all the 20th century experimental stylistic
movements are simply an unnatural late outgrowth of post-romantic
excess which survive precisely because academia has nourished and
protected them from the influence of public opinion. Andrew does not
agree with me, and I suspect that others on this list do not either,
but that's how I see it. And if I had completed my Ph.D that's the
kind of study that would have fascinated me for a dissertation.
John
You have stated this very well, John. I am in complete agreement. (Not
as much fun as having Andrew to argue with, sorry.)
Has academia been changing? I'm not really in it, although I sometimes
observe it from afar.
When I was in grad school (1975-6) the Musical Quarterly was full of
articles like "Rhythmic Interruptions in the mazurkas of Chopin" and
nonsense like that. I was trying to write my thesis composition in
1975-6 at the U. of Louisville and I wanted to write a work for
orchestra that was a pretty simple treatment of Appalachian folk
melodies. My teacher liked what I was writing but said it was in no way
serious enough for a master's thesis. I started over, wrote a heavy,
dissonant, work (also using an Appalachian tune, but dutifully pounding
it into submission) and all were happy. (Well, the old, grizzled band
director at the orals ridiculed the fact that I had trumpets using four
types of mutes, but he was an artifact.)
About 1983-4, I found myself looking at a Musical Quarterly or some such
rag, and it was full of articles on world music and "A Harmonic Analysis
of Jimi Hendrix's 'Star Spangled Banner.' I surmised things had been
changing in the academic world, although the music written by the
university professors that I have played since then is still usually
pretty dismal, with a couple of exceptions. What do you think?
Raymond Horton
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