not much from Ray these days.
this ought to catch his interest.
arthur
-----Original Message-----
From: Lewis Auerbach Subject: why government costs more -- it is not simply
inefficiency
[snip] > When Mozart
[snip]composed his String Quintet in G Minor (K. 516), in 1787, you needed five people to perform it-two violinists, two violists, and a cellist. Today, you still need five people, and, unless they play really fast, they take about as long to perform it as musicians did two centuries ago. So much for progress.
An economist would say that the productivity of classical musicians has not improved over time
I bet I can do you one better!
In tomorrow's NYT Book Review is a review of a book by Edward Tenner. Tenner said that a Hungarian engineer and pianist Paul von Jacko invented a new piano keyboard in 1882 that made playing difficult pieces easier, as well as making it easier to transpose keys (I remember that sh-t!).
BUT JACKO's PIANO NEVER CAUGHT ON
in part because it took the pain
out of performing difficult pieces: "The music
was not only hard, it was *supposed* to be hard.
To remove the tension by making playing
easier and more natural was to break
music's "spell."I will say it again: The kind of childrearing most of us had where our parents tried to alienate our perceptions and judgments to make us see and want what they want us to see and want (and remember: they in their turn were products of this brainwashing!) -- this mutilated our souls and resulted in us confusing pain and pleasure, etc. We think effort is good for people. We think there's no pleasure without pain. We have semiotic viral infections which, since they are universal, are taken for not just normality, but health.
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
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