Oh, good grief, Lyndon LaRouche! He was as crazy as a peach orchard squirrel!
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of howard posner Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2015 5:18 PM To: Lute List <[email protected]> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Saturday morning quotes - Pitch > On Dec 12, 2015, at 9:21 AM, Edward Martin <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am wondering, has anybody on the list read some of the arguments > about changing the modern pitch standard as a + 432? A major push for 432 came from none other than convicted mail fraud conspirator and 8-time fringe presidential candidate Lyndon Larouche, who defined “weird” in American politics until Donald Trump redefined it. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on Larouche; I can’t vouch for its accuracy in all things: > 1989: Musical interests and Verdi tuning initiative: > > LaRouche and his wife have an interest in classical music up to the > period of Brahms. A motto of LaRouche's European Workers' Party, is > "Think like Beethoven"; movement offices typically include a piano and > posters of German composers, and members are known for their choral > singing at protest events and for using satirical lyrics tailored to > their targets.[152] LaRouche abhors popular music; he said in 1980, > "Rock was not an accidental thing. This was done by people who set out > in a deliberate way to subvert the United States. It was done by > British intelligence," and wrote that the Beatles were "a product > shaped according to British Psychological Warfare Division > specifications."[153] LaRouche movement members have protested at > performances of Richard Wagner's operas, denouncing Wagner as an > anti-Semite who found favor with the Nazis, and called a conductor > "satanic" because he played contemporary music.[154] > > In 1989 LaRouche advocated that classical orchestras should use a > concert pitch based on A above middle C (A4) tuned to 432 Hz, which > the Schiller Institute called the "Verdi pitch," a pitch that Verdi > had suggested as optimal, though he also composed and conducted in > other pitches such as the French official diapason normal of 435 Hz, > including his Requiem in 1874.[155] > > The Schiller Institute initiative attracted support from more than 300 > opera stars, including Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo and Luciano > Pavarotti, who according to Opera Fanatic may or may not have been > aware of LaRouche's politics. A spokesman for Domingo said Domingo had > simply signed a questionnaire, had not been aware of its origins, and > would not agree with LaRouche's politics. Renata Tebaldi and Piero > Cappuccilli, who were running for the European Parliament on > LaRouche's "Patriots for Italy" platform, attended Schiller Institute > conferences as featured speakers. The discussions led to debates in > the Italian parliament about reinstating Verdi's legislation. LaRouche > gave an interview to National Public Radio on the initiative from > prison. The initiative was opposed by the editor of Opera Fanatic, > Stefan Zucker, who objected to the establishment of a "pitch police," > and argued that LaRouche was using the issue to gain credibility.[156] Here’s a 1989 story about it from the Washington Post, which goes into some of the arguments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/27/lyndon-larouches-pitch-battle/756e0713-65eb-4059-90b2-037fd2f1f6e1/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
