Ray, I think it's the breast that is calmed by music, not the beast. But I suppose that only a savage beast could have a savage breast, so you may be right. Or we both are?
Ed > Thanks Harry. Music doth calm the savage beast! > > REH > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "'Ray Evans Harrell'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Keith Hudson'" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 6:03 AM > Subject: RE: [Futurework] Where has music gone? > > > > Ray, > > > > And what a lovely reply! > > > > Harry > > > > ******************************************** > > Henry George School of Social Science > > of Los Angeles > > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > > Tel: 818 352-4141 -- Fax: 818 353-2242 > > http://haledward.home.comcast.net > > ******************************************** > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ray > > Evans Harrell > > Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 5:01 PM > > To: Keith Hudson; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Where has music gone? > > > > What a lovely post Keith, > > > > For me it was the Brahm's Requiem and the first time singing with > > the > > orchestra. We had plenty of first class choruses in Tulsa but > > never had I > > experienced the orchestra with the descending three part women's > > chords with > > the resounding D pedal point. It was an important moment but I > > will never > > forget the absolutely sublime chords as the chorus rose higher > > and higher in > > Schoenberg's magnificent Friede auf Erde. Peace on Earth or the > > first time > > I really "got" the Beethoven Ode to Joy which seemed musty the > > first time I > > heard it. It took many hearings for me to crawl into its > > eccentricities. > > I will never forget the first singer that I taught that opening > > baritone > > solo too. I almost cried because it had come to mean so much to > > me on the > > reservation. Or playing the trombone in the Prelude to Act III > > Lohengrin. > > On and on. > > > > That is the place where I experienced community in the non-Indian > > world. > > Peter Drucker imagined the ideal of the modern corporation as an > > orchestra. > > If you've never played in one or even sung in a chorus you have > > no hope of > > knowing what he meant. The closest you can get is the imaginary > > "higher > > beings" in the old star trek series or ESP. > > > > Reading your article I agree that we must stress amateur > > musicians once > > again but it must be secular. It never left our churches over > > here for > > the concert hall. The Concert Halls have died while the > > churches have > > flourished. You can experience more music of more variety in > > church in > > America than any other place. Quite the opposite from Europe. > > On the > > other hand such live and participatory music has been cut off > > from the > > non-Christian people who do not have this music available in the > > secular > > world except in dead recordings. > > > > Don't get me wrong. I love my Abbado tapes and there are many > > singers that > > I never would have heard except on recording but it was singing > > on stage > > with the Richard Tuckers, Cornell McNeil, George London, Anna > > Moffo, or > > watching the great Cherokee ballerina Yvonne Chouteau from the > > stage that > > touched my heart and opened my soul. I can put all the missing > > parts into > > the tapes because I played in orchestras, sang in choruses and > > performed on > > the stage with the greatest singers in the world from the time I > > left the > > reservation at 17. On the reservation almost everybody did > > some kind of > > art. We all sang, played instruments and did the traditional > > crafts. > > Today many families maintain their ties by doing crafts together > > and > > traveling around to the Powwow summer festivals to dance and sell > > the crafts > > that they make during the winter months. > > > > A Doctor once asked me if there were any great American Indian > > operas or > > works of art. I mentioned the Deer Dance and the Navajo "sings" > > but he > > thought that was strange. Opera means "work" and is a > > multimedia work of > > painting, dance, instruments and of course singing. The Deer > > Dance is a > > nine day festival filled with all of the above and a Navajo > > "sing" is a many > > day solo tour de force of design, dance , singing and drama, all > > for the > > same reason as the original Greek dramas at Epidoris. Healing > > the soul and > > the community. We have forgotten the reason for the music in > > the first > > place and forgotten how to feel. We have also forgotten that it > > takes > > great skill and development to do both in the more advanced > > disciplines. > > > > That is the one place where I disagree with your article. I > > find the music > > of the composers that he thought failures to be as beautiful and > > enriching > > as the "old favorites" that he mentions as well. In fact I find > > the newer > > works indicative of the time from which they are drawn and that > > for me is > > what a large part of it is all about. I'll never forget an > > audience > > weeping at a Holocaust minimalist piece at the Guggenheim. It > > was > > minimal, simple in concept but incredible in execution. The > > dancer ran up > > and down a ramp as fast as she could for almost thirty minutes. > > The ramp > > was wood and resounded with her feet as a drum as the history of > > the > > holocaust was projected on Frank Lloyd Wright's white walls of > > the museum. > > At first it was annoying, in the end the actual devastating > > fatigue of the > > dancer as she simply ran up and down, changing directions at each > > end was a > > inescapable for us as for her. Her task (a part of the > > aleatory art form > > since it was filled with chance decisions unthought before hand) > > and the > > reality of the banality of her task along with the inescapable > > reality > > translated as being trapped, courageous, determined and for a > > moment > > connected us to the reality of a truly trapped individual with > > our being > > guards who made her continue to the end. The parallel was > > devastating as > > the entire audience wept no matter what people they were from. > > > > What are the physical forms of the theater and their meanings? > > The > > orchestra is the underworld that feeds the themes of life to the > > people on > > the stage while the audience is the angels or demons who > > determine the > > success or failure of actual performance. Something that we > > learn about > > life and transfer into our own world as humanity. Who has not > > enjoyed and > > learned from Baron Ochs and the Marshallin in the last act of Der > > Rosencavellier as he realizes that she has had a tryst with > > Octavian but is > > unable to turn it to his own advantage and the heavenly trio that > > follows as > > the Marshallin gives up her 17 year old lover to his new wife? > > What do we > > learn about the culture of the Ottoman Empire and the little > > turbaned > > servant who leaves nothing behind to be used against his mistress > > at the > > end? > > > > Last night I went to the "Wagner like" movie "Return of the King" > > the third > > of the Tolkien trilogy. It was thrilling although more than a > > little > > stereotypical and racist in the attitudes of Tolkien its author. > > The > > inferior human races were of course the only turbaned and black > > faces in the > > film while the elves were gorgeous white faces mostly blond. > > Remember > > this wasn't historical Europe but the pre-world "Middle Earth." > > > > Of course it was wonderful to see the little hobbits dreaming of > > undiscovered American Indian strawberries and bringing in a huge > > pumpkin > > also developed by American Indian agricultural scientists not in > > the > > pre-world but in the historical present. But those are little > > things > > probably not thought about in Tolkien's English world. But it > > was a grand > > story with great computer human mixes and all on the huge I Max 5 > > story tall > > screen. Fairy Liv Tyler speaking Gaelic was gorgeous and the > > mountains of > > New Zealand are amazing. The orchestra was fun and the fight > > scenes were > > OK, although nothing of the kind of devastation that I felt > > reading them > > years ago. The little Epilogue at the end I found over long > > and cloying > > but the whole film, after the initial enjoyment of the effects, > > left me with > > both admiration and an uneasy feeling. > > > > The good Sam and the evil Smeagal whose altar ego is gollum same > > sound as > > the Golum in Jewish literature. I suspect Tolkien was well > > aware of the > > Dybbuk and the Golum. Given the other stereotyping and the > > obvious > > connection of the Ring to power which easily could be material > > power > > considering "eating the forest" and creating the hellish factory > > which > > created war machine in film II. The Ring could easily be > > connected to > > industrialization and economic power and poor Smeagol was taken > > in and > > destroyed and turned into Gollum by it. Does all of that story > > make you as > > queasy as it does me? I've heard the story before to describe > > Jewish > > people. Having worked with a lot of European legends not to > > mention > > Shakespeare and the stereotypes from The Merchant of Venice to > > Beckmesser in > > Meistersinger, I felt that Tolkien whether deliberately or > > subconsciously > > was exercising a cartoon stereotype that I didn't want > > particularly in my > > own head. I don't mind Beckmesser or Carmen because they are > > from another > > generation which was more provincial and did not know what we > > know today. > > But seeing this film come out in the 21st century with these > > hidden > > characters I found offensive. Instead of discussing it on the > > various > > sites on the internet dedicated to Tolkien, it is treated as if > > it didn't > > exist. I spoke today to a Jewish student who had a strong > > reaction to the > > first of the three films and refused to see the other two. It > > took me > > three to take offense but sometimes I'm slow. > > > > So I went home and watched the real thing, Wagner, Lohengrin. > > With the > > passionate Abbado in the pit and the Spanish Domingo as the > > Knight of the > > Holy Grail. I listened to all of the blatant stereotyping and > > it made me > > see our Western ancestors once more, clearly. Wagner's music > > was > > unbelievable and those amazing preludes conducted with genius by > > Abbado. > > Even on video it was thrilling. The richness of the score, the > > singing and > > the commitment of the artists made me see the potential of these > > human > > characters of Brabant while understanding how such "artistic > > souls" could > > have decimated my people with impunity and then turned on > > themselves in > > their racism in the 20th century. More than Tolkien's simple > > tale with > > a lot of violence and crude subhuman characters and Godlike white > > folks, > > this complicated story of secrecy and the complexity of what > > betrayal meant, > > the loss of power through transparency is deceptively "simple." > > The power > > of secrecy whether benign or evil and the importance of trust in > > the same > > way that Orpheus "blew it" with Euridice or Coyote did with his > > daughter > > here our myths. In Lohengrin the Gods of the Forest are the > > evil with the > > priestess Ortrud standing in as the revenge element against the > > more > > "modern" Knight Templar Lohengren. That was good religion > > versus bad > > religion with chauvinistic culture thrown in for spice, but this > > "racist > > issue awareness" is new. > > > > What became accepted was the "problem" of the other, the > > conquered, the > > inferior, the Smeagal the gollum, the evil spirit. Blacks > > moved from the > > pre-history riders of Mastodons in Tolkien to the little black > > turbaned > > footboy in Rosencavallier. Rosencavallier is older but the > > point is still > > the same. He moves from terrorist to controlled child. Racism > > then is > > diffused. Its just economics and Anti-semitism, racism, > > religious > > intolerance becomes a tool for politics. > > > > How easily we complain about racism in politics like David > > Brooks, in > > today's NYTimes, assigning anti-Semitism to those who see a > > connection > > between the writers who cut their teeth in the Jewish Commentary > > magazine > > and who to a man have provided a rational for the war in Iraq. > > Calling > > them Jewish is true since most of them wrote for a conservative > > Jewish > > magazine. Calling them Jewish in their cause is not true unless > > you have > > never heard of Tikkun which is more representitive of American > > Jewery > > although most Jews in America support Israel. Wrapping > > neo-conservative > > in Judaism is just as racist as wrapping Tom DeLay and GWB in the > > American > > flag or worse Christianity. But racism is a real issue and it > > goes far > > beyond such trivializing. The attitude towards Iraq is > > genuinely > > culturally chauvinistic since the people advocating the war are > > appalling in > > their ignorance of Islamic culture or even the Arab languages. > > It is one > > thing to indiscriminately retaliate against a state or group that > > attacks > > you as in 9/11, it is quite another just to pick someone and > > pronounce them > > more evil than the rest in spite of their history and their > > relationship to > > you. Death is death. If you kill children from the air or > > throw them off > > buildings they are still dead and in the service of what you want > > to > > accomplish. Both are evil acts. And I do believe in evil. > > But I am a > > man of the theater. > > > > > > What has been missed by those who do not know their heritage, and > > thus their > > ancestors first hand, by participating in the same sounds, > > rhythms, words > > and feelings from times so long ago? Is self knowledge not > > important and > > does not such artistic experience bring us idenity and knowledge > > of our > > history? How poor is value when it is determined solely by pure > > monetary > > profit? How degrading is it to society when the ancestors are > > made > > available only to the wealthy? That is the gift of the > > communities of > > faith to their congregations. But the glue that would cement a > > society in > > all American communities is missing unless they are Christian and > > can hear > > and perform the great Western Masterworks in Church. > > > > Thanks Keith for bringing this Future work of art to the list. > > > > Ray Evans Harrell > > > > > > > > > > --- > > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.558 / Virus Database: 350 - Release Date: 1/2/2004 > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
