Klarinet Archive - Posting 000154.txt from 2002/07

From: w7wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] The Magic Clarinet
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 19:21:07 -0400

<><><> I wrote:
Now, what would (say) Mahalia Jackson and Mozart say to each other?

<><> Bonney=A0Ennett wrote:
I give up. What?

We can't know for certain, of course. But there are plenty of
opportunities for speculation:

What would Mozart think of Mahalia's simpler "gut level" melodies and
rhythms and harmonies? In fact, did Mozart have (or express) any
feelings at all about music that wasn't 'refined and complexified' in
order to fit with court life and wealthy sponsors?

Would gender be an issue? I'm not much on music history, but my
impression is that women in early music, such as Hildegard von Bingen
(sp?), were mostly thought of as 'weirdos' who lived/composed/performed
only on the fringes of society. (shades of Vienna Philharmonic)

What would Mozart say if he learned how much money could come from mass
entertainment, as opposed to pleasing a few sponsors?

Mahalia was truly religious, whereas I believe that Mozart (or his
parents?) adopted "Amadeus" as a middle name mostly because it was the
thing to do. Would anything come of this? Would Mahalia's sound or
lyrics be sacrilegious in Mozart's eyes?

We haven't touched on ethnicity, but probably that's too tender a topic
for this list.

In addition to the fact that role playing can be entertaining, it may
also cause some of us to think more deeply about what Mozart 'said" with
his music, or why he wrote the way he did, and so forth. Try to put
yourself in his shoes. Or in Mahalia's. Or in the shoes of any other
musician of substance.

Any takers?

Cheers,
Bill

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D

My best guess is that music became possible because of some anatomical
invention that just happens to facilitate interactions between other,
older functions --- for example between some of the brain that does
planning for paths in space and some of the parts involved with
language, or story-like memory systems. [...] It might explain why
hearing certain kinds of sounds might come to give you the feeling that
you understood something, or give you the experience of being in some
other place.
---Marvin Minsky

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