Klarinet Archive - Posting 000386.txt from 2002/09

From: MaisondeHadley@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Ego and Bravado--Je m'en fous!
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 00:52:26 -0400

In a message dated Thu, 19 Sep 2002 7:07:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, charette@-----.org writes:

> As to whomsoever thinks you're a fraud - where did >you get that idea? Not from anyone I know.

Mr. Charette and other esteemed listmembers,
I believe Mr. Woodson was implying me. Just this evening I received an email from him, which among other things, contained the following statement:

"My accomplishments as a composer are readily
provable to any scholar in my scores. This isn't
bragging. These are facts that cannot be denied on
paper. Many members of the Viola and Horn Lists
have seen the proof. They had their doubts at first
too, as anyone should, but now they know. A few
people on the Klarinet List already have copies of
my "Suite for Two Bb Soprano Clarinets" and "Trio
for Flute, Oboe, and Bb Clarinet". Ask them if my
music seems naïve, obvious, simple-minded, petty, or
mediocre in any way.

If Mozart Hindemith or Zwilich make big claims,
no one gets offended, because they are proven names.
But if an Unknown Composer makes big claims, it
is reasonable to ask questions. But it is not fair to
"hit and run". Now you get to explain a few things
to me, in front of everyone. I can verify my claims
in my scores, but when people criticize, and can't
justify their motivations, now who's "tooting your
own horn"? "
He also decided to throw in a heap of personal insults. As to 'my explanation,' which I would assume he intended as a public apology after my initial post: after what he said to me in that email, the only thing that comes to mind is a French expression. However, seeing as this is a public mailing list, and that I was taught to show some amount of respect to my elders even when they act like infantile school children, I will refrain from saying what that particular expression is and its equivilent translation in English form.
Even after all of this, I still agree with Mr. Charette: in my eyes the extent of bragging done by this individual makes him appear nothing more than a common braggart. I do agree as artists there is a certain amount of ego involved. But at the same time, after an event commemorating the death of so many US Citizens lost on September 11, 2001, I felt that the important message was lost amongst mountains of bravado and ego.
What was the point of his post? To mention that a few thousand of our fellow countrymen were lost that day and remembered a year later by a group of dedicated musicians, or to push his music and the fact that his work has the first triple fugue for clarinet sonata in world history?

Je m'en fous!
Joseph Stevens

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