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Lou Harrison not attending Focus concerts

🔗Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@rcn.com> <jpehrson@rcn.com>

1/26/2003 4:37:03 PM

Apparently, according to the Times, Lou Harrison is not attending
Joel Sachs' FOCUS concerts in Lincoln Center devoted to his music.

The ostensible reason is a "scheduling conflict." Perhaps he's in
Europe??

Most of the works on the concert are in 12-equal.

I guess I have no overt reason to question the "scheduling conflict"
pronouncement, but still a glimmer of doubt remains...

Anybody know any more about this??

Thanks!

Joseph Pehrson

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM> <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

1/26/2003 10:58:15 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> Apparently, according to the Times, Lou Harrison is not attending
> Joel Sachs' FOCUS concerts in Lincoln Center devoted to his music.
>
> Anybody know any more about this??

Forecast for Monday, 1/27:

Aptos, CA - 63 degrees F
NYC, NY - 17 degrees F

I'm sure there may be other reasons, but that works for me.

Cheers,
Jon

🔗Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@rcn.com> <jpehrson@rcn.com>

1/27/2003 10:16:21 AM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@A...>"

/tuning/topicId_41948.html#41953

<JSZANTO@A...> wrote:
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
<jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> > Apparently, according to the Times, Lou Harrison is not attending
> > Joel Sachs' FOCUS concerts in Lincoln Center devoted to his music.
> >
> > Anybody know any more about this??
>
> Forecast for Monday, 1/27:
>
> Aptos, CA - 63 degrees F
> NYC, NY - 17 degrees F
>
> I'm sure there may be other reasons, but that works for me.
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

***This is a very humorous post, Jon!

JP

🔗bill_alves <ALVES@ORION.AC.HMC.EDU> <ALVES@ORION.AC.HMC.EDU>

1/28/2003 10:05:08 AM

> > --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
> <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> > > Apparently, according to the Times, Lou Harrison is not attending
> > > Joel Sachs' FOCUS concerts in Lincoln Center devoted to his music.
> > >
> > > Anybody know any more about this??
> >

Lou on his way by train I believe to Columbus, where OSU is honoring
him with a festival of 4 concerts devoted to his music -- one each of
orchestral music, chamber music, percussion music, and gamelan. I
guess the dates conflicted.

🔗Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@rcn.com> <jpehrson@rcn.com>

1/28/2003 12:13:00 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "bill_alves <ALVES@O...>" <ALVES@O...>

/tuning/topicId_41948.html#41958

wrote:
> > > --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
> > <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> > > > Apparently, according to the Times, Lou Harrison is not
attending
> > > > Joel Sachs' FOCUS concerts in Lincoln Center devoted to his
music.
> > > >
> > > > Anybody know any more about this??
> > >
>
> Lou on his way by train I believe to Columbus, where OSU is honoring
> him with a festival of 4 concerts devoted to his music -- one each
of
> orchestral music, chamber music, percussion music, and gamelan. I
> guess the dates conflicted.

***Hello Bill!

Well... Ohio State University in Columbus or Juilliard in Lincoln
Center... Presumably OSU requested him further in advance.

Either that, or we can dream up various "alternate tuning" conspiracy
theories.... Probably not productive... :)

JP

🔗wallyesterpaulrus <wallyesterpaulrus@yahoo.com> <wallyesterpaulrus@yahoo.com>

1/28/2003 1:09:28 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
<jpehrson@r...> wrote:

> Either that, or we can dream up various "alternate tuning"
>conspiracy
> theories.... Probably not productive... :)
>
> JP

a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably going to be entrenched
in western musical establishments for some time to come. i just
finished (for now) a long e-mail exchange with one of the most
prominent music theory professors in the world (i give him credit for
taking so much time to speak with a "nobody"), and he doubts that
tuning in the renaissance was ever very different than 12-equal (due
apparently to "*cognitive necessity*"), while evading every inquiry
as to whether he's ever played, or even heard, anything in an
alternate tuning system. this is exactly what i would expect from
virtually all the articles by all authors that i've seen coming out
of academic music theory for the last few decades. the issue is swept
under the rug and locked down there by powerful-sounding theoretical
principles.

the situation is bleak for the western world's young musicians . . .
except of course those studying with bill alves and a very few
others . . .

🔗Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@rcn.com> <jpehrson@rcn.com>

1/28/2003 4:44:47 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "wallyesterpaulrus

/tuning/topicId_41948.html#41963

<wallyesterpaulrus@y...>" <wallyesterpaulrus@y...> wrote:
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
> <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> > Either that, or we can dream up various "alternate tuning"
> >conspiracy
> > theories.... Probably not productive... :)
> >
> > JP
>
> a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably going to be
entrenched
> in western musical establishments for some time to come. i just
> finished (for now) a long e-mail exchange with one of the most
> prominent music theory professors in the world (i give him credit
for taking so much time to speak with a "nobody"), and he doubts that
> tuning in the renaissance was ever very different than 12-equal
(due apparently to "*cognitive necessity*"),

***I love that phrase. That means *his* brain, so to speak... :)

while evading every inquiry
> as to whether he's ever played, or even heard, anything in an
> alternate tuning system.

***Wow... It has to be Forte... ( :)

It's obviously not our friend Clough...

The parlor game continues...

I can't help but think that Lou Harrison spending his time in
Columbus Ohio (OSU probably actually a pretty progressive place)
rather than at Juilliard has something to do with certain of these
attitudes.

I'd like *not* to think this, but the cloying doubts claw...

JP

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM> <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

1/28/2003 5:34:38 PM

Joe,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> I can't help but think that Lou Harrison spending his time in
> Columbus Ohio (OSU probably actually a pretty progressive place)
> rather than at Juilliard has something to do with certain of these
> attitudes.
>
> I'd like *not* to think this, but the cloying doubts claw...

You can be the first to correct me if I'm wrong or not: if you are inferring, in a couple of the messages, that LH should have gone to Julliard/NY instead of OSU/Columbus because it would be a superior experience for him, simply because it *is* Julliard and *is* in NY...

...if that is what you are inferring, then there are at least *two* 'attitudes' floating around!

The way you've put it is vague enough that I really don't want to cast aspersions, certainly if I've read you the wrong way. But long gone are the days that having LH go to Julliard would be, hands down, the better choice. From all the decriptions, it certainly looks like the OSU program is more well-rounded, and not only more lengthy but more in light of honoring the broad nature of LH's work over a lifetime.

Well, anyway, Lou Harrison is one very intelligent person, and I'm sure he has his reasons for being in one place instead of another...

Cheers,
Jon

🔗Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@rcn.com> <jpehrson@rcn.com>

1/28/2003 8:38:17 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@A...>"

/tuning/topicId_41948.html#41968

> You can be the first to correct me if I'm wrong or not: if you are
inferring, in a couple of the messages, that LH should have gone to
Julliard/NY instead of OSU/Columbus because it would be a superior
experience for him, simply because it *is* Julliard and *is* in NY...
>
> ...if that is what you are inferring, then there are at least
*two* 'attitudes' floating around!
>
> The way you've put it is vague enough that I really don't want to
cast aspersions, certainly if I've read you the wrong way. But long
gone are the days that having LH go to Julliard would be, hands down,
the better choice. From all the decriptions, it certainly looks like
the OSU program is more well-rounded, and not only more lengthy but
more in light of honoring the broad nature of LH's work over a
lifetime.
>
> Well, anyway, Lou Harrison is one very intelligent person, and I'm
sure he has his reasons for being in one place instead of another...
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

***Hi Jon,

Oh no... hardly. I was just suggesting there was a certain irony, or
perhaps a *telling* irony in that the "conventional" idea that
somehow Juilliard and New York would be a superior gig no longer
might pertain...or at least wouldn't pertain for Harrison...

After hearing more about the concert: I was told tonight at Johnny
Reinhard's board meeting that the piece in *SLENDRO* on the Focus
Festival would be performed by Joel Sachs in *12 EQUAL*, as would
every single other Harrison piece on the concert, it would seem clear
that even that fact alone might be a reason for a "boycott" or
certainly a clear selection of one "competing" date over another.

Added to that fact that hornist Greg Evans brought up, that Lou
Harrison had unhappy experiences in New York to begin with...

My impression is that probably OSU is quite a creative environment,
and I'm sure there will be not only more adventurous musicmaking
there, but a better and more "fun" feeling about the festival in
general.

I really only met Lou Harrison a couple times and pretty briefly at
the Claremont MicroFest, but I could sense that a certain "positive
vibe" and warmth are not only part of his character, but something he
probably would choose to seek in his environment...

best,

Joe

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM> <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

1/28/2003 10:56:06 PM

Joe,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> Oh no... hardly. I was just suggesting there was a
> certain irony...

...and etc. Super. We are on the same page.

> After hearing more about the concert: I was told tonight at Johnny
> Reinhard's board meeting that the piece in *SLENDRO* on the Focus
> Festival would be performed by Joel Sachs in *12 EQUAL*, as would
> every single other Harrison piece on the concert, it would seem clear
> that even that fact alone might be a reason for a "boycott" or
> certainly a clear selection of one "competing" date over another.

One has to stand in wonderment at the people who would propose to honor an artist and do it by completely violating their aesthetic. Not the first time, certainly not the last, sucky as always.

Cheers,
Jon

🔗alternativetuning <alternativetuning@yahoo.com> <alternativetuning@yahoo.com>

1/29/2003 1:33:29 AM

Lou Harrison is a favorite of mine and we hear a lot of his music
here in Budapest thanks to the AMADINDA percussion ensemble, the most
popular classical group in the town.

I was unhappy to hear that they will play Lou Harrison's music in 12-
equal, but then I checked out the score for the Concerto in Slendro.
The score says

quoting:

The Concerto may be played in two ways: 1) Celesta & Tackpianos tuned
correctly to the above modes, 2) Celesta & Tackpianos in equal
temperament.

:end-quoting

I think that it's easy enough to find two pianos to tune, but where
can you find a celesta?

Gabor B.

🔗Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@which.net>

1/29/2003 3:24:55 AM

"wallyesterpaulrus " wrote:

> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson <jpehrson@r...>"
> <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> > Either that, or we can dream up various "alternate tuning"
> >conspiracy
> > theories.... Probably not productive... :)
> >
> > JP
>
> a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably going to be entrenched
> in western musical establishments for some time to come. i just
> finished (for now) a long e-mail exchange with one of the most
> prominent music theory professors in the world (i give him credit for
> taking so much time to speak with a "nobody"), and he doubts that
> tuning in the renaissance was ever very different than 12-equal (due
> apparently to "*cognitive necessity*"), while evading every inquiry
> as to whether he's ever played, or even heard, anything in an
> alternate tuning system. this is exactly what i would expect from
> virtually all the articles by all authors that i've seen coming out
> of academic music theory for the last few decades. the issue is swept
> under the rug and locked down there by powerful-sounding theoretical
> principles.
>
> the situation is bleak for the western world's young musicians . . .
> except of course those studying with bill alves and a very few
> others . . .
>

Now tell me something I don't know. The solution to all this is very simple.

Regards
a.m.

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM> <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

1/29/2003 7:56:12 AM

Gabor,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "alternativetuning <alternativetuning@y...>" <alternativetuning@y...> wrote:
> I was unhappy to hear that they will play Lou Harrison's music in 12-
> equal, but then I checked out the score for the Concerto in Slendro.
> The score says
>
> quoting:
>
> The Concerto may be played in two ways: 1) Celesta & Tackpianos tuned
> correctly to the above modes, 2) Celesta & Tackpianos in equal
> temperament.
>
> :end-quoting

Thanks for clarifying. I'm hoping that all the presentations have this caveat as well, and also wishing that one could hear the 'tuned' versions, if for no other reason than we hear enough 12tet music as it is!

Cheers,
Jon

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM> <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

1/29/2003 7:59:39 AM

A,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
> Now tell me something I don't know. The solution to all this is very simple.

It may be simple, but you're one of the few people actively working on the solution. Take heart in that, if nothing else.

Cheers,
Jon

🔗Kyle Gann <kgann@earthlink.net>

1/29/2003 7:43:40 PM

>a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably
>going to be entrenched
>in western musical establishments for some
>time to come.

This undoubtedly true, but I'm going to suggest that the post as a whole is far too pessimistic. Ever read the book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"? It claims that Christ survived the cross and had children, and that the lineage of his descendants forms a tremendous threat to the Catholic Church, which keeps their existence well hidden at tremendous cost. Whatever you think of that conspiracy theory, I believe we microtonalists represent the same kind of threat to the academic music etablishment. 1. We've got the numbers on our side, plus hundreds of years of history in which 12tet was unused, compared to their two little centuries or less. 2. We can hear intervals and distinctions and beats that they can't, and it bugs the hell out of them. Of course they swear that no such intervals meaningfully exist. They mistakenly (I believe) fear that, if we're proved correct, then centuries of great music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms et al will be invalidated - a fear that I consider completely groundless, but one that they will fight for to the death. Perhaps they only pretend to fear that because it helps their cause - no one wants Beethoven's music rendered invalid. You've watched the Bush Republicans - any truth that threatens them, they "sweep under the rug and lock down there by powerful-sounding theoretical principles." Thus act all members of privileged elites.

But I've had the interesting experience of lecturing to non-musician academics about tuning. They immediately see the truth of what I'm saying about JI and well temperament, and don't even see why it should be controversial. They assume that, as soon as this stuff gets out, the walls of prejudice will come tumbling down. It's a naive assumption, admittedly. But the very force of the resistance we meet suggests that the academic elites KNOW what a threat we represent; otherwise there'd be no reason not to humor us. I've never been allowed to speak about microtonality that I didn't win some converts. And I'm not even trying to convert: I just present the facts. The numbers and the music speak for themselves. You can't convert any of the academic old guard of course, because they're enjoying tremendous privilege and have too much to lose. No point in wasting time on them. But the young people not yet in power can often be very easily impressed.

One thing that's very important is to create a lot of microtonal music which has value *as* music, not just as demonstration of tuning principles. If there's anything that holds us back, it's that when people finally do hear microtonal music, it sounds "wierd" and "out of tune," or else is extremely conservative and uncreative in every aspect except tuning. (I have to put Blackwood's Microtonal Etudes in this latter category.) Ultimately, people are only going to be impressed by the music, and only when they can hear the necessity for the tuning in the music. The battle is ours to lose. We're not fighting IBM or General Electric, but scared academics whose pompous arrogance is inversely proportional to their paper-thin sense of power.

yours,

Kyle Gann

P.S. And, re Lou Harrison: if Ohio State were offering four concerts of my music and Juilliard one piece on a concert, I certainly know which one I'd opt for. I've worked with a lot of Juilliard musicians by now, and by and large they are the most hidebound, convention-limited musicians I've ever run into. I wouldn't blame Lou a bit for saying, screw 'em.

🔗monz <monz@attglobal.net>

1/30/2003 12:30:21 AM

hi Kyle,

i really enjoyed reading your long response to
paul. some specific comments below ...

> From: "Kyle Gann" <kgann@earthlink.net>
> To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 7:43 PM
> Subject: [tuning] Re: Lou Harrison not attending Focus concerts
>
>
> > a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably
> > going to be entrenched in western musical
> > establishments for some time to come.
>
> <snip first paragraph>
>
> But I've had the interesting experience of lecturing to non-musician
> academics about tuning. They immediately see the truth of what I'm
> saying about JI and well temperament, and don't even see why it
> should be controversial. They assume that, as soon as this stuff gets
> out, the walls of prejudice will come tumbling down. It's a naive
> assumption, admittedly. But the very force of the resistance we meet
> suggests that the academic elites KNOW what a threat we represent;
> otherwise there'd be no reason not to humor us. I've never been
> allowed to speak about microtonality that I didn't win some converts.
> And I'm not even trying to convert: I just present the facts. The
> numbers and the music speak for themselves. You can't convert any of
> the academic old guard of course, because they're enjoying tremendous
> privilege and have too much to lose. No point in wasting time on
> them. But the young people not yet in power can often be very easily
> impressed.

yep ... i see a direct analogy with the way the old
Soviet Stalinist "communism" (which it really wasn't)
came crashing down, once enough of the Soviet-bloc
proletariat got a good look at the alternative world
they *could* have, and decided they just wouldn't accept
having the Soviet system shoved down their throats anymore.

> One thing that's very important is to create a lot of microtonal
> music which has value *as* music, not just as demonstration of tuning
> principles. If there's anything that holds us back, it's that when
> people finally do hear microtonal music, it sounds "wierd" and "out
> of tune," or else is extremely conservative and uncreative in every
> aspect except tuning. (I have to put Blackwood's Microtonal Etudes in
> this latter category.) Ultimately, people are only going to be
> impressed by the music, and only when they can hear the necessity for
> the tuning in the music. The battle is ours to lose. We're not
> fighting IBM or General Electric, but scared academics whose pompous
> arrogance is inversely proportional to their paper-thin sense of
> power.

it's my firm belief that a *very* big part of the
reason why 12-tET finally became so desirable and
so firmly entrenched in the European musical world
was the (justly, IMO) high regard held by most
composers, performers, and listeners for Beethoven's
music -- he was, i think, the first really important
composer who really exploited the *unique* possibilities
of 12-tET (especially in his later "third period"
c. 1815-1826, music which was composed after he became
totally deaf), and the quality of his output ensured
12-tET's lasting significance.

> P.S. <snip> ... I've worked with a lot of Juilliard musicians
> by now, and by and large they are the most hidebound,
> convention-limited musicians I've ever run into.

except, of course, for "our own" Dante Rosati!

(guitar teacher at Juilliard, microtonal composer and
performer, and member of a punk-rock band.)

-monz

🔗Dante Rosati <dante.interport@rcn.com>

1/30/2003 5:01:59 AM

> > P.S. <snip> ... I've worked with a lot of Juilliard musicians
> > by now, and by and large they are the most hidebound,
> > convention-limited musicians I've ever run into.
>
>
> except, of course, for "our own" Dante Rosati!
>
> (guitar teacher at Juilliard, microtonal composer and
> performer, and member of a punk-rock band.)
>
>
>
> -monz

thanks, Monz!

Plus, when I was a student there in '89, Danlee Mitchell & the Partch
instruments came to Juilliard and he rehearsed a whole bunch of us
hidebound, convention-limited musicians for a couple of weeks, leading up to
two performances of "Revelation in the Courthouse Park" in the Juilliard
theatre. (Admittedly, that kind of thing doesn't happen every day there, but
at least it happened once!). In my Evening Divison guitar class there, I
>always< explain & demonstrate JI to them and make them aware of the
strengths and limitations of 12tet.

Dante

ps- no longer in punk band (singer doing 14 years upstate), last R&R gig was
playing guitar with the Skeletal Family (goth band) in Leeds UK gig back in
December.

🔗Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>

1/30/2003 9:04:26 AM

>

It seems A great amount of time is wasted trying to "convert" players of conventional instruments to play music in different tunings. As someone who like others started as a vioLa player, i might be quite capable 9well i haven't played it in a while) to play any tuning i wish. The problem is honestly is
that i really don't like hearing certain interval on such instruments and i believe this is due to the timbre of the instrument which evolved out of the tuning. i have found other string instruments work best with the tuning i use.
Possibly this relates to phenomenon hinted at by Sethares. The point if i may be extreme to make the case is that these instruments were not designed to play these intervals (except for your more historic ones of course) and to force them to speck in ways forign to them is productive only up to a point.
What makes the great music possible is the instruments to play them on. there would be no beethoveen without the piano to bang out loud on. the task is as alison says and jon "seconds". BUILD AND OR MODIFY. This is BTW what ALL other cultures have done. It is fine to use electronics but if we really want
to look at the psychology of the situation. people respond way more to permanent objects that machines that can be retuned right or left to anything or nothing. Even playing such objects when you have an instrument in front of you that plays a new tuning and nothing else it has a power beyond what any one
person can bring to it. It is an unyielding force if not a true personality. yes i can play my slendro on my marion but when a percussionist comes over and starts to play my retuned deagan vibraharp, few expression of HORROR have i ever witness. the tuning is there ant it MEANS it and some just can't
believe oi can do such a thing. Well if you aren't willing to make it permament, why should anyone take you seriously.

>
> From: "Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>" <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>
>
> A,
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
> > Now tell me something I don't know. The solution to all this is very simple.
>
> It may be simple, but you're one of the few people actively working on the solution. Take heart in that, if nothing else.
>
> Cheers,
> Jon
>

-- -Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
http://www.anaphoria.com
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU 88.9 FM 8-9PM PST

🔗Afmmjr@aol.com

1/30/2003 9:53:46 AM

In a message dated 1/30/03 12:08:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,
kraiggrady@anaphoria.com writes:

> It seems A great amount of time is wasted trying to "convert" players of
> conventional instruments to play music in different tunings.

Hi Kraig, I don't think I have wasted any time at all on this. :) Johnny

🔗gdsecor <gdsecor@yahoo.com> <gdsecor@yahoo.com>

1/30/2003 11:25:12 AM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "wallyesterpaulrus
<wallyesterpaulrus@y...>" <wallyesterpaulrus@y...> wrote:
>
> a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably going to be
entrenched
> in western musical establishments for some time to come. i just
> finished (for now) a long e-mail exchange with one of the most
> prominent music theory professors in the world (i give him credit
for
> taking so much time to speak with a "nobody"), and he doubts that
> tuning in the renaissance was ever very different than 12-equal
(due
> apparently to "*cognitive necessity*"), while evading every inquiry
> as to whether he's ever played, or even heard, anything in an
> alternate tuning system. this is exactly what i would expect from
> virtually all the articles by all authors that i've seen coming out
> of academic music theory for the last few decades. the issue is
swept
> under the rug and locked down there by powerful-sounding
theoretical
> principles.
>
> the situation is bleak for the western world's young
musicians . . .

And things have gotten even bleaker in academia during the past
quarter-century. I thought that there at least seemed to be a
glimmer of hope that something might catch fire there during my
earlier years (1963-1979) of microtonal activity. Since my return,
it is shocking to learn how widespread is this close-minded attitude
among those who should be in the forefront of a movement such as ours.

> except of course those studying with bill alves and a very few
> others . . .

But take heart -- there's another side to the coin. Here on the
Tuning List I would say that we have a larger, more close-knit, and
more vital movement than existed 25 or 30 years ago, and by all
indications there's no sign that we're going to disappear any time
soon.

--George

🔗gdsecor <gdsecor@yahoo.com> <gdsecor@yahoo.com>

1/30/2003 12:15:50 PM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Kyle Gann <kgann@e...> wrote:
> >a disinterest in alternate tuning is probably
> >going to be entrenched
> >in western musical establishments for some
> >time to come.
>
> ...
> They mistakenly (I believe) fear that, if we're proved correct,
then
> centuries of great music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms et al will be
> invalidated - a fear that I consider completely groundless, but one
> that they will fight for to the death.

I would think that their real fear is that much of the music that has
come out of their midst in the past half-century or so will be
invalidated, and that Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms would be
demonstrated to have more in common with us than with them.
Especially considering that their music is virtually ignored by
anyone outside their academic circle.

> ...
> But I've had the interesting experience of lecturing to non-
musician
> academics about tuning. They immediately see the truth of what I'm
> saying about JI and well temperament, and don't even see why it
> should be controversial.

Only because they're not threatened by it.

> They assume that, as soon as this stuff gets
> out, the walls of prejudice will come tumbling down. It's a naive
> assumption, admittedly. But the very force of the resistance we
meet
> suggests that the academic elites KNOW what a threat we represent;
> otherwise there'd be no reason not to humor us. I've never been
> allowed to speak about microtonality that I didn't win some
converts.
> And I'm not even trying to convert: I just present the facts. The
> numbers and the music speak for themselves. You can't convert any
of
> the academic old guard of course, because they're enjoying
tremendous
> privilege and have too much to lose.

In effect, any of these "authorities" or "experts" who might
entertain the thought of investigating the possibilities of alternate
tunings would be reduced to the status of "novice," which would be
unthinkable. They would either have to learn from someone in a group
such as ours (unthinkable), or would have to spend years studying it
on their own (impractical).

And the success of a "popular music" that is economically viable is
yet another threat to their authority -- an adversary that cannot be
tamed and that will not accommodate them. But for the alternate
tuning enthusiast, popular music is just a collection of musical
styles, and musical style and alternate tunings are totally different
dimensions of musical reality -- any tuning could theoretically be
used for any style (though certain combinations would be more
effective than others). (And don't make the mistake of restricting
quality, seriousness, or "art" only to a certain part of the spectrum
of *style*.)

Could you imagine what would be the result if microtonal pop music
ever made it into the mainstream. It would be musical academia's
worst nightmare!

> ... Ultimately, people are only going to be
> impressed by the music, and only when they can hear the necessity
for
> the tuning in the music. The battle is ours to lose. We're not
> fighting IBM or General Electric, but scared academics whose
pompous
> arrogance is inversely proportional to their paper-thin sense of
> power.

How many here are like the academics who have for many decades been
afraid to get their hands dirty by getting involved with "pop music"
styles? Or are we afraid that we won't be taken seriously by the
academics? They're not taking us seriously anyway, so why should we
care what they think?

These are things I cannot ignore when I think about the future of
tuning.

Am I making any sense to anyone out there?

--George

🔗Gene Ward Smith <genewardsmith@juno.com> <genewardsmith@juno.com>

1/31/2003 6:52:49 AM

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "gdsecor <gdsecor@y...>" <gdsecor@y...> wrote:

> In effect, any of these "authorities" or "experts" who might
> entertain the thought of investigating the possibilities of alternate
> tunings would be reduced to the status of "novice," which would be
> unthinkable. They would either have to learn from someone in a group
> such as ours (unthinkable), or would have to spend years studying it
> on their own (impractical).

You might think the more mathematically inclined would be willing to take the plunge.

> Could you imagine what would be the result if microtonal pop music
> ever made it into the mainstream. It would be musical academia's
> worst nightmare!

Wendy Carlos hit platinum for Switched on Bach. If she could do that for a mictrotonal album, wouldn't that be lovely?