(...whew ...)
- are musicians - amateur or otherwise - more likely
to top themselves than anyone else? if so, are they
more prone to do so now than they would have done a
few hundred years ago? off-hand, i'd say no to both.
- in one sense ("been there, done that") people who
are concerned with the past - as early music
enthusiasts as opposed to top-ten music enthusiasts
might be - are already on intimate terms with death.
anxiety about the future drives most people to suicide
- if it's already happened there's not much you can do
about it.
- as for the study and performance of lute music as a
deterent to suicide ... i'd say yes - there are few
things more life affirming than the sweet, soothing
sound of a lute.
i read about a teacher recently who played mozart
violin concertos to her disruptive and very difficult
to teach students. she found that just as background
"noise" it made them calmer, more attentive, etc.,
etc. and found that they remembered more from those
lessons with mozart than those without. just the
violin - piano didn't have the same effect.
feeling "plucky" about the future - bill
--- Vance Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear Herbert:
>
> IMHO most of the suicide rate is related to the fact
> that most young adult
> males feel it is incumbent upon them to make a lot
> of money when in fact
> their heart's desire to do something else. The idea
> of craftsmanship and
> doing what your guts tell you, you were born to do,
> are of such little
> concern that there are those that cannot deal with
> the self betrayal. We
> live in a high tech and mechanized society and have
> drifted away from
> concepts of craftsmanship, musicianship, and
> artistic creativity. Some
> people can cope through hobbies, but others are so
> driven to become
> something that they are not they, in essence have
> committed spiritual
> suicide before they actually pull the trigger or
> take the jump.
>
> Vance Wood.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Herbert Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 10:38 AM
> Subject: Lute playing in 2004.
>
>
> >
> > I've read that the suicide rate has quadrupled in
> the past 60 years for
> > young adult males, (and doubled for females).
> >
> > For example, in the paragraph "Suicide" in the
> section "Prevalence" in
> > this Surgeon General's report:
> >
>
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter3/sec5.html
> >
> > I've read similar figures in the "FBI Bulletin",
> in a major encyclopedia,
> > and in the UTexas student newspaper.
> >
> > From this, it is reasonable to assume that modern
> lutenists operate in a
> > profound general society-wide emotional deficit,
> compared to the period of
> > their literature's production. This despite
> material plenty, large
> > amounts of leisure time, better health, modern
> psychology, and almost
> > unlimited entertainment.
> >
> > This assumption would raise several questions
> suitable for an Internet
> > lute forum. I'll list some, despite the risk of
> appearing overly
> > sophomoric. Do modern lutenists, as carriers of a
> historical esthetic,
> > have means to ameliorate the situation? If so, is
> this a reason for the
> > lute's recent increase in popularity? Is the
> malaise too pervasive to
> > allow musical authenticity? If not, how do
> successful lutenists adapt?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To get on or off this list see list information at
> >
>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
>
>
=====
"and thus i made...a small vihuela from the shell of a creepy crawly..." - Don
Gonzalo de Guerrero (1512), "Historias de la Conquista del Mayab" by Fra Joseph
of San Buenaventura
___________________________________________________________
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
