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Busy with grant proposals. But it isn't about
like or dislike. It is about universes. Some people can
understand and inhabit one universe more easily than another. That
doesn't mean you can't learn, grow and be fulfilled by coming out beyond
yourself and entering into the complexities of another. That is what
is meant by Aesthetics being antecedant to all other areas of human
endeavor. You have to learn to walk first. I like
Copland as well, in fact, as my Cherokee Elder said:
"I never met a man I didn't
like" Will Rogers.
REH
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Re: I like
(some) pop music (was: Classical Music in Enlgand)
Hi Robert,
Gosh! How pleasant to hear
another voice in this exchange. But I'm afraid your enjoyment must now be
curtailed because I think Ray and I have reached the same sort of impasse that
we usually do on musical and artistic matters. Never mind, it will probably
crop up again.
As to Copland, well I've sung him and find him a little
. . . what? . . . sparse, is the word, I think. However, my better-half, who
is far more musical than me, thinks that Copland is wonderful.
.
. . . I have just consulted her and she enthusiastically agrees with your
"ecstasy".
Keith Hudson
At 13:19 01/06/2003 -0400, you
wrote:
<<<<
Hello, Ray and Keith
I am enjoying
your exchanges on musical aesthetics and musicology.
In terms of
the elitism of Charles Ives, I have to be sympathetic to the perspective of
Keith. Ives was a solid member of the American business class [corporate
elite] and a graduate of Yale, at a time when postsecondary education was
rarely a component in the dreams of the American working class. Musical
traditions within his family, furthermore, encouraged and shaped the unique
music voice contained in his compositions.
I am familiar with the
music of Charles Ives. Interestingly, he did not gain much recognition
[like many artists] until the twilight of his career.
Personally,
I am not enamoured of Ives' compositions. I like my Americana more in
the vein of Aaron Copland, rather than the bitonality of Ives' reading of
American popular melodies. I suspect Copland and Ives were ideological
opposites in their reading of the 'people's music.' This in no way is
intended to detract from his uniqueness. After all, he did win a
Pulitzer Prize for his Third Symphony - but I still like Copland's 3rd,
better. That glorious, full reading of his 'Fanfare for the Common
Man.' Ecstasy!
As I said, I am enjoying your
dialogue.
>>>>
Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden
Place, Bath, England
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