Re: Greetings to Keenan Pepper -- with apology

Hello, there, and I would like at once to offer an enthusiastic
appreciation and a due apology to Keenan Pepper, whom I confused with
a very different contributor, David Keenan. As I'll suggest in a story
near the end of this message, misidentification can sometimes be the
ultimate compliment -- but it's nevertheless a compliment best
revised, without in any way being diluted, to true recognition.

Some weeks ago, I was totally engrossed in the writings of David
Keenan, especially some articles about regular tunings based on single
or multiple chains of fifths. These articles have certainly made the
name "Keenan" a household one for me, and more generally I would
warmly recommend a visit to Dave Keenan's site. However, this
enthralling experience was unfortunately also a precursor of my
mistake, for which I apologize to you, Keenan (Pepper, not Dave) with
due circumspection, however belated.

Given this focus on Dave Keenan, when I saw quite captivating articles
from a "Keenan Pepper" on this Tuning List, I jumped to the conclusion
that this must be some nickname or Internet address for Dave. Yes, I
had a moment of hesitation -- am I _really_ sure that this is the same
person?

Unfortunately, the topics and comments in these posts somehow very
much connected for me with themes I associate with Dave Keenan such as
consonance/dissonance; the image of the forest, for example, really
had me intrigued, as did the comment about "crunchy" dissonances.

"Unfortunately," that is, from the viewpoint of my getting to know
you, Keenan, not as someone I was mistakenly identifying with one of
my favorite theorists, but in your own right, for yourself. Thanks to
Paul Erlich, who has kindly informed me of this mistake, I can now
continue to appreciate your creative theory and wit while becoming
acquainted with the special flavor of your excellence -- and maybe
appreciating Dave's, too, more clearly in the process.

Now for the story. It said that sometime around 1515 or so, the same
epic when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, the Papal
choir delighted to perform a beautiful piece by Josquin des Prez,
renowned as the greatest composer of the age. Interestingly, this was
a view on which the Papal choir could agree with the dissenter Martin
Luther, who wrote in praise of Josquin. If I recall, Luther's
statement was that other musicians had to do what the notes wished,
but Josquin could make them do what he wished.

However, it turned out that the composer of the piece was actually a
young musician named Adrian Willaert. When they found out, the choir
stopped singing the piece. In their case, the compliment of mistaking
the youthful composer's work for a masterpiece of Josquin turned out
not to be such a compliment after all: they were more interested in
the fame and status of the composer, it would seem, than in the beauty
of the music itself.

It is said that Willaert had an artful response: he composed a piece
using accidentals intricate enough that the choir was unable to sing
it! This piece, actually setting a Latin text about drunkenness, is
often known as his "chromatic duo," although the complete piece is
actually a quartet. The proper intonation of this piece is an engaging
puzzle -- intriguing in the 16th century or the 20th or the 21st.

The attitude of the choir didn't stop Willaert from becoming the model
of his generation -- like Josquin in his age -- who would likewise be
acclaimed as the perfect musical model by the theorist Gioseffo
Zarlino, writing about 40 years later.

Please let me say, Keenan, that like the musicians who mistook
Willaert's composition for Josquin's, I made a mistake -- but in this
case, having my mistake corrected makes me all the more delighted both
by your articles themselves, and by the knowledge that there are
indeed _two_ brilliant and creative theorists who happen to share the
name Keenan, each of which I can learn to appreciate and relish.

Thank you for your articles, which I'll read with special interest,
much looking forward to some engaging dialogue.

In friendship,

Margo Schulter
mschulter@value.net