Klarinet Archive - Posting 000734.txt from 2003/06

From: Anne Bell <bell@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Political postings - ON topic?
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 10:30:10 -0400

Oliver,
I've seen offensive titles on several sheet music archive sites and they
make me uncomfortable. HOWEVER, I believe they should continue to be made
available. Some now considered offensive were actually written by black
composers, but more than that I don't feel we should be revising history.
Popular culture both reflects, and magnifies over time, things that we
might prefer not to see. My discomfort is a small price to pay for a
realistic historical picture of one of the most shameful eras in US history.
I'm less certain (though someone will probably have more information)
that "le petit negre" was offensive in nature. My french doesn't extend to
connotations of word choice...

Anne

At 09:44 PM 6/21/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>The two pieces by Debussy for clarinet quartet on my page, "Le petit
>negre," and "Golliwog's Cakewalk," have titles which fall into the category
>of being politically incorrect.
>
>I figure it's only a matter of time before someone gets on my case about
>having them on my page, surely one sponsored by a university as diverse as
>CSU Dominguez Hills. Doesn't matter. They are period pieces (with very
>catchy and appealing melodies) ban them from the music repertoire.
>
>The California Sheet Music Project has a section devoted to African
>American contributions (both as performers and composers),
>
>http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~mkduggan/afro.html
>
>Mary Kay Duggan has commendably included all of the pieces which came her
>way however politically incorrect may be the titles, such as "Dat Bad Coon
>from Alabama" and "I'll Carve Dat Nigger When We Meet." If you take a look
>at the page, note that the pieces toward the bottom have live links for the
>sheet music, but the MIDI files have been pulled from their server. Don't
>know the story on that one.
>
>Oliver

*********************************************************************
Anne Bell bell@-----.net
Bayside HS Orchestra Director
ABC Index: http://www.anne-bell.sneezy.org/ MUSIC LINKS!
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