[mplpost] Influences, young folk and toiletries (long and not PC)

[Take Note! Promotion]

Geez, I can't let Nick get ALL the say in this, can I?  <grin>

	OK, I'm stepping up to the plate now.  Just got into an "argument" with NN
about this one point (don't worry, we kissed and made up...):

> To me the
> example of the comb maker does apply to the art and craft of music; in the
> sense that for instance 120 years ago a mass audience was
> perfectly used to
> listening to and grooving to the structural principles of sonata and
> symphony

	Well, I'll admit that I *barely* passed music history at school, but I do
take issue with this one.  (Hey, sometimes my classical training DOES come
in useful...)  As I just said to Nick, this is comparing apples to
oranges -- sure, Mozart and those other "old guys" did write some pretty
nifty symphonies and sonatas, but, while they were *arguably* appreciated
more in their time than "contemporary classical" composers of today, those
forms were still considered Art Music, not Popular Music.  Mind you, Mozart
wrote his share of popular music, too -- "Amadeus" may have cheesed out a
bit, but the director certainly "got it" when portraying Mozart as the
equivalent of today's bar-room musician.  Yup, the guy did both --
well-rounded musician, indeed.

	Just because "classical" music from 100 or so years ago is still around
doesn't mean that everyone from "back then" wrote that way -- that's why
it's "classic"!  It transcends the trends of the time -- that, to me, is
what the term "classical" has come to mean.  In THAT sense of the word, I'm
sure that, 100 years from now, many of today's "folk" musicians will be
considered "classical," much as Mozart's bawdy songs are now considered as
such -- even though he would have never considered them such at the time.

	In much the same way, there are in fact "classical" folk songs -- songs
that have "made it" through the ages.  Because of the oral tradition,
however, most have not "made it" in their original form.  Take, for
instance, one of my favourite examples -- the James Bay Fiddlers.  The NFB
made a documentary of these folks, which I urge you all to see.  Apparently,
when this country was barely a glint in the eye, a bunch of fur traders gave
a group of Inuit some fiddles, and taught them some of their traditional
tunes.  These Inuit handed down the tunes through the generations, but
adapted them a bit, to help make sense of them for their Inuit culture.  You
could still recognize the origins of each tune, BUT...  The documentary
shows a "reunion" of the descendants of the James Bay Inuit with the
descendants of the Scottish traders.  The original plan was for each group
to play a "set", then to join forces for the grand finale.  The grand finale
never took place, however, because neither group could figure out how the
other was playing the same tune.  That, to me, is folk music -- something
each person can take from and contribute to.  "Loch Lomond" is still the
same song, whoever is playing it -- but the person playing it, and the
people listening to it, can make it their own.  Each group appreciated the
other version of it, but "theirs" was "theirs."

	Someone used the example of Beatles songs as folk music a while ago.  I
think, in some sense at least, that it is becoming that way.  I know of many
people who "know" the "right" words to "Yellow Submarine," but none of them
ever agree.  Same as those fiddlers -- both groups had the "right" version,
they just weren't the same.  Heck, it's even the same with Mozart -- how
many bloody variations have you heard of "Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star"?!?!?!?

	We can't assume that everyone in Shakespeare's day talked in iambic
pentametre, we can't assume that everyone in the 60s was as poetic as Dylan.
Some things last, some fall by the wayside.  Anyone heard from Boy George
recently?  There's "Art Music" and there's "Popular Music" -- there's
"Classical Muic" from both those groups.  Who's it gonna be?  John Cage?
Toru Takemitsu?  Dylan?  Marsalis?  Egads, will Brittany prove us all wrong?

> 	Other cultures notwithstanding, in order to be a merely
> competent Western
> classical or jazz player, one has to acquire skills that are usually
> considered 'virtuoso' level in some pop or so-called folk scenes; and any
> late nineteenth century European hack composer knew a lot more about
> harmony, counterpoint, and arrangement than most working tunesmiths today.

	I'm sure many of them didn't, however -- that's why we don't remember them
now.  And while "the business" was much different than that of the
Backstreet Boys today, I'm quite sure they had their equivalents -- the guys
the "real artists" loved to hate, because they were so popular in their
time, without having to (seemingly) work so hard at it and/or suffer for
their success.  Hey, don't forget -- even Bach was totally forgotten for
ages, until some French academic "discovered" his music hidden in a library.
What hidden gems do we have today?

	The way my cello career is going, I'm constantly straddling many different
worlds -- classical, folk, pop, jazz, world, even rock (gasp!) -- and the
edges are becoming more and more blurry for me.  I guess that's why I've
chosen to adopt the terms "art music" and "popular music," and tend to apply
them to different styles than they were, perhaps, originally designed for.
I've had the priviledge of working with rock musicians who take their work
very seriously.  I've also had the disadvantage of working with "classical"
musicians who were total hacks.  There are "Art Artists" and "Pop Stars" in
every genre.  Time will tell who is Classical and who is...  well... WHO?

Hoping to be remembered even 20 years from now...
Alyssa
*******************************************************************
Alyssa Wright, cellist and composer
e-mail: alyssa@takenotepromotion.com <mailto:alyssa@takenotepromotion.com>
website www.interlog.com/~takenote/alyssa.htm
<http://www.interlog.com/~takenote/alyssa.htm>

Represented by Take Note! Promotion
e-mail: tnp@takenotepromotion.com <mailto:tnp@takenotepromotion.com>
website: www.takenotepromotion.com <http://www.takenotepromotion.com>
phone: (416) 755-2521
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