Klarinet Archive - Posting 000321.txt from 1998/06

From: merlinw@-----.ca
Subj: Re: [kl] Serious music and entertainment
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 01:58:41 -0400

On 06/08/98 22:12:02 you wrote:
>
>Carl Schexnayder is bothered by
>
>> the use of "classical" to refer to all serious music, since "classical"
>refers
>>to a period in history.

So am I.

>and I think he's right. I'm bothered too. Beethoven is classical. Handel
>and Mozart are not. They're baroque. Tschaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov are
>not. They're romantic. Bach, of course, is uncategorizable. Stravinsky is
>not classical. He's an early modernist. And so on. But "periods" and dates
>are unreliable, because Borodin is clearly a romantic, born out of his time..

Just one thing - I was always taught that Mozart was firmly in the classical period. I've never thought of any of his music as Baroque, or even baroque in the literal sense.

>
>And as Carl says, there's no use fighting it because
>>using more precise terminology seems to confuse so many people.
>Jazz musicians have, or used to have, a more useful catchall term - legit
>music. I don't hear the word any more.

Certainly it's worth fighting - I don't stop fighting when people claim that Kenny G plays jazz - I firmly rebuff them with the statement that he plays intrumental pop music.

BTW, I dislike the expression "legit". Use of the word implies that all other music is "illegitimate". The expression is often (but not always) used disparagingly by jazz players.

Among the other terms I've heard are: Western art music, European art music, concert music, and "serious" music (can you tell I dislike this one?)

I hope I live to see the day when "jazz" & "classical" are seen more as part of a continuum, and musicians are encouraged to learn more of the spectrum of sounds and techniques than many currently do. I know pianists who hold Bach, Mozart, Art Tatum and Bill Evans in equal regard. I applaud them. I'd love to see performance of a Benny Goodman or Jimmy Hamilton solo transcription as a requirement for serious clarinet students.

As for the debate on music vs. entertainment; I've probably got enough flames on the way as it is!

Merlin Williams
merlinw@-----.ca
http://www.netcom.ca/~merlinw
(A member of the Sax Ring!)

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