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William Baumol in his book the Baumol Disease wrote
a paper with his wife that examined the documents on Shakespeare's
Theater, Mozart's Vienna and I can't remember the third but it seems
that art paid the best and survived the most in times of not so good
economies. That is hopelessly oversimple but I remember being
surprised since it ran agains the grain of more affluence creating more and
better artistic work. Also, Mozart wasn't poor, they ran out of
grave space.
Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director
The Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble, Inc.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 7:34
PM
Subject: Re: Even nationalised circuses!
(Re: Loss of the middle class)
Repeated with the correct
date!
Brian,
You stimulated me to wonder which plays received
the best reception - which brought the paying customers back most often. I
wonder if anyone has done anything to find out?
William (or whoever
wrote them) was a professional. He would no doubt write for his audience. And
they apparently appreciated history, drama, comedy, and not a little
whimsy.
I'm not sure how modern kids can learn "appreciation" in our
school system, except incidentally, outside the curriculum.
You might
recall how I got my kids to appreciate classical music. I simply played it all
the time at home. The kids found it a part of their environment. Toronto had
some very good FM stations back then, including one that played music on the
large sized tape that is used to make commercial stuff. Very good
sound.
You may know Mozart's Serenata Notturna, his Serenade #6 in D
major. It's very sprightly. I found my #2 son whistling away one day while he
was doing something else. He was whistling the Serenade without realizing
where he had gotten it from.
It had worked.
How can we bring
this sort of education into the grade schools? Or should we?
Harry
--------------------------------------------------------------
Brian
wrote:
Harry Pollard wrote:
But the only way for the arts to
flourish in a free society is by attracting a large following. And the only
way for that following to materialize is by education. Initially in the
schools...
Hi Harry,
I wonder if the masses of 'groundlings'
standing in the sloping yard of the Rose Theatre drinking pints and enjoying
Shakespeare's plays were educated enough to enjoy the arts? Did they consider
it ART or a great story? They took in Shakespeare's plays after watching bear
and bull baiting. I also wonder what our ignorant masses are currently
watching or listening to that will be considered ART in 2402? Beethoven upset
a lot of patrons with his emotionally charged music; it had a very powerful
effect on women which worried many men.
Take care,
Brian
McAndrews
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Harry Pollard
Henry George School of LA
Box 655
Tujunga CA 91042
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: (818) 352-4141
Fax: (818) 353-2242
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