What is the practical political point today if Handel had investments in slavery? Pretty shallow with this musician:
> > “I try to see what can I learn from Handel and how can I try to make a > difference here and now. Because we can’t change the past,” said Jeannette > Sorrell, artistic director of period-instrument ensemble Apollo’s Fire and > conductor for the SPCO’s 2018 Messiah. “We can take this news about > Handel’s investments and look into our own 401(k)s or whatever we each > have. Many people are not paying that much attention to how their > investments are specifically allocated." > https://www.thespco.org/blog/artists-respond-to-handels-investment-in-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/ > > As for Handel's investment in slavery, that itself is not a simple fact. One researcher found that Handel's "investments" in the Royal African Company were pro forma transactions required in order to get his salary from the Royal Academy of Music: > > The money coming annually into Handel’s account from 1725 to 1732 was £700 > exactly (or a close proximate, such as £600 in 1727 and 1730). It always > arrived between the end of the opera season in June and the following > November, sometimes as multiple credits but more often in one. This money > was always withdrawn months before the next credit cycle began; in 1727, > for instance, Handel’s account lay empty for ten months (between early > February and late November). The example of Handel’s pension payment in > 1721 through a 5% Bank Annuity, in addition to the pattern of regular, > annual deposits, led me to the conclusion that Handel’s South Sea Annuity > similarly existed solely for the payment of his salary from the Royal > Academy of Music. The same premiss helped to explain Handel’s brief > accounts at the Royal African Company, the first, of five shares, lasting > two weeks and the second, of one share, five weeks. My reassessment of > Handel’s investment portfolio from 1720 to 1732 led me to conclude that > Handel was neither making ‘careful decisions’ nor ‘courting gentility’ > but, rather, simply being paid. > https://academic.oup.com/ml/article/103/3/541/6619636 > So, again, what is the practical political point today? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33860): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33860 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109886990/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
