Klarinet Archive - Posting 000039.txt from 2002/04

From: "Michael Bryant" <michael@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Shocking
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 01:23:34 -0500

Do some wish to shock?

Exhibit A: Henze's Clarinet Concerto "Miracle de la Rose"

This is based on a work by the French novelist and playwright,
Jean Genet (1910-?). Most of his works inhabit a depraved world,
and it is difficult (for me) to understand why composers would write
such a work, players play it, orchestras schedule it and audiences
listen to it? Otherwise one's only contact with this end of the
spectrum is as a juryman or women . . . quite clearly some of us
live a privileged and sheltered life.

MB

Tony Pay wrote on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 6:06 AM
Subject: [kl] Shocking

> There's a tension between those people who are shocked by the use of
> 'vulgar' language and those others who sometimes use such language in
> order to shock them; and it's never really going to go away.
>
> It's a tension that you can find in other forms throughout the history
> of art, too. The initially shocking effect of the poetry of Rimbaud and
> the music-theatre of Wagner comes to mind, and you can think of lots
> more examples in painting and theatre. The crucial thing is that the
> tension is continually maintained by both sides, though what is
> 'shocking' itself changes with time.
>
> In saying that, I'm not wanting to claim artistic merit for most uses of
> 'bad' language. But I do think, given the ubiquity of shock, that it's
> worth while wondering which camp you want yourself and your children to
> be in, with regard to one small part of it.
>
> Do you want to be in the camp that's automatically shocked by the use of
> one of perhaps a dozen words? Or, do you want to be one of those in
> control of your response? (That need not mean that you yourself ever
> choose to shock by using those words -- though of course, you may, if
> you want.)
>
> Essentially, do you want to be the slave or the master of these dozen
> words?
>
> Unconscious collusion is involved in this, I suggest. Shockable people
> are shocked by the use of vulgar words because the shockers intend that
> to happen; but funnily enough, the shockees intend that too! So, of
> course they're shocked!
>
> I even know what that feels like, because I sometimes deliberately put
> myself in the position of possibly being shocked -- in the theatre, say
> -- by someone I know may try to shock me into seeing things in a
> different way.
>
> One thing that's certain is that there isn't a moral high ground,
> though shockable people often pretend that there is. Someone who is
> shockable isn't 'better' than someone who isn't. On the contrary, you
> tend to find that people who are righteous about being shocked by
> trivialities like single words are often less trustworthy in other
> regards.
>
> If swearing were the worst thing out there, we'd be laughing.
>
> In this context, I have to say that I find it amusing that someone
> mentioned a multi-national company, perhaps even suggesting that their
> practices (automatic censorship) constitute an enlightened attitude
> towards the use of vulgar language. I'm not suggesting that his
> particular company has anything wrong with it, but it's an odd place to
> look for high morality in these times.
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
> tel/fax 01865 553339
>
> .... After we pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is NOT our friend!
>
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>
>

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