Doublereed Archive - Posting 000004.txt from 2005/06

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: [DR-L] Quote of the Day (Mozart and Jack the Ripper)
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 23:00:22 -0400

<<<"There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the
Ripper.">>>

The word "because" in the above statement connotes causation. However,
the statement in and of itself does not explain why the causation
exists. Therefore, in the absence of further documentation or
explication, the statement is nonsensical. Why must there be a Jack the
Ripper, of any gender, in order for there to be a Mozart? Or, is the
original author saying that there is something inherent in the male
psyche which is absent from the female, which explains the capability of
men to be both evildoers and geniuses? Modern-day thinking undoubtedly
would reject that contention.

More than likely, the reason there has as yet been no female Mozart, if
indeed there has not, is that at the time that Mozart and his
near-contemporaries Bach and Beethoven lived and for most of the time
since that era, societal norms prevented women from developing such
abilities as they may have had. Anyone who doubts this would do well to
study the case of Fanny Mendelssohn, who in the opinion of some may have
been the musical equal of or greater than her brother Felix, even though
perhaps neither of them may be characterized as a Mozart. (I am aware
of the work of Hildegard von Bingen, Francesca Caccini, Ruth Crawford
Seeger, etc.) Additionally, it should be noted that neither has there
been another male musician whose genius has allowed him to be accorded
the stature of Mozart in the same period.

Today, due to changing societal mores, there is question as to whether
anyone of either gender can achieve the stature as a musician that
Mozart did. This is because present-day civilization tends not to
highly value musical accomplishments of the type that were the measure
of a musical genius of two centuries ago. At least we can say that if a
musician of the degree of accomplishment of Mozart has exhibited himself
or herself since the death of Beethoven, that fact has gone unnoticed by
the world, even the musical world.

Even though this Quote of the Day seems to me to be of questionable
accuracy or perceptiveness, at least it may serve as the impetus for
some interesting discussion. I know that there are those who reject the
notion that any composer can be said to be greater than any other. If
that stance is adopted, then this discussion ends at that point.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville

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