Careful reading reveals that the correct phrasing of your comment is: "Our somebodies who declined the opportunity to become nobodies are Dufay, Josquin, etc etc...."
It also reveals that the Oxford serialist's appreciation of Cage is the actual point of your disagreement. -----Original Message----- From: adS [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 4:54 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: John Cage Stuart LeBlanc wrote: > Not so tough a question. A Beethoven symphony expresses the human condition > in all its complexity. A cowbell expresses the location of a cow. > > That aside, a very appropriate commentary. I'm reminded of Henry Miller's > remark: > > "In America, everybody has the opportunity to become somebody. In Europe, > everybody has the opportunity to become nobody." > Very interesting. Our nobodies are Dufay, Josquin, Lasso, Palestrina, Marenzio, Rore, Dowland, Monteverdi, Sch�tz, Couperin, Vivaldi, Purcell, H�ndel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Stravinski, Bartok, .... and hundreds of other giants. Who are your somebodies? Best wishes from old Europe, Rainer adS Oops - I forgot - in America every monkey has the opportunity to become governor or president.
