Procrustes the giant

"In Greek myth, Procrustes was a giant who ran a hotel of sorts,
although sad to say, his hospitality skills weren't exactly the best.
Procrustes forced his guests to spend the night on an iron bed, and
if they were too long for the bed, he lopped off their legs; if they
were too short, he stretched them until they fit."

This refers to something intended to enforce conformity in an
inflexible, arbitrary way. If I may exaggerate, are we describing
here the 12-teT?

Haresh.

--- In tuning@y..., "Haresh BAKSHI" <hareshbakshi@h...> wrote:

>
> "In Greek myth, Procrustes was a giant who ran a hotel of sorts,
> although sad to say, his hospitality skills weren't exactly the
> best. Procrustes forced his guests to spend the night on an iron
> bed, and if they were too long for the bed, he lopped off their
> legs; if they were too short, he stretched them until they fit."
>
> This refers to something intended to enforce conformity in an
> inflexible, arbitrary way. If I may exaggerate, are we describing
> here the 12-teT?

Absolutely.

Thanks for posting this story, Haresh. I've come across the
phrase "procrustean bed" many, many times because Schoenberg
used it in describing his lingering rejection of tonality in
his 2nd Quartet (which I've studied a lot). I never bothered
to look up the Greek myth from whence the term originated.

-monz

--- In tuning@y..., "Haresh BAKSHI" <hareshbakshi@h...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_20895.html#20895

>
> "In Greek myth, Procrustes was a giant who ran a hotel of sorts,
> although sad to say, his hospitality skills weren't exactly the
best.
> Procrustes forced his guests to spend the night on an iron bed, and
> if they were too long for the bed, he lopped off their legs; if
they
> were too short, he stretched them until they fit."
>
> This refers to something intended to enforce conformity in an
> inflexible, arbitrary way. If I may exaggerate, are we describing
> here the 12-teT?
>
> Haresh.

Hello Haresh!

Well, conceivably, but it could also describe the Clairmont Inn at
the MicroFest. Actually, in all fairness, it wasn't the Clairmont's
problem, but what were all those wild kids with beer bottles in the
halls all about??

_______ _____ _______ ____
Joseph Pehrson