Klarinet Archive - Posting 000854.txt from 2003/08

From: "Noel Taylor" <r.n.taylor@-----.uk>
Subj: RE: [kl] Gezunt or Gezint
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:51:56 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Ormondtoby Montoya [mailto:ormondtoby@-----.net]=20
Subject: Re: [kl] Gezunt or Gezint

Eclef, here's a word of caution:

To most of us whose first language is English (American or British), the
strict interpretation of "in the blood" is that a person is genetically
better suited to the activity being discussed. Such a statement
borders on bigotry, although I doubt you intended such a thing.

What Dan is saying to you is that if you grow up with a certain genre of
music, you *may* play it a bit differently than someone who did not grow
up with it. So long as you don't go beyond this statement, I don't
think that Dan has any complaint.

------- <snip>

Thorny issues.... and I'm a bit hesitant about chipping in BUT:

I think we can go one tiny bit further towards the idea of a music being =
'in
the blood' by acknowledging that a musician who plays music that comes =
from
a cultural history to which they feel bonded may play the music with a
sense, within themselves, of identity that could never be quite shared =
by
the musician from a different culture. That is not to say that it would
necessarily be better playing - or even more emotionally explicit or
accurate - but that the meaning of the music to the performer =
him/herself
(and possibly also to the audience) might of necessity be slightly
different. (What the music is really like may be something entirely
different, of course). And out of this we could also acknowledge that =
the
person who grows up & develops as a musician in that musical culture is
going to have enough of a head start to say it's kind of 'in the blood'. =
I
have to agree, however, that the phrase is rather unfortunate.

As a rather fanciful, theoretical example - perhaps I can understand or
imagine the national pride of another country and perhaps I could play =
their
national anthem so beautifully that a true native of that country would =
be
truly moved and might even discover qualities in it they'd never felt =
before
(I wish I was this musician, by the way, but I'm not). I might even so
exactly mirror the prevailing national sentiment that half the audience
would clutch hands to hearts (sorry: a little dig there) - but for me as =
the
performer, it would, I think, be music drawn from my own experiences and
diverse cultural influences. I wouldn't at any point truly feel that I
belonged to that nation in the way that a native did. In reality, I =
wonder
if such an audience might find itself resisting the impact of their own
national anthem played so well by a foreigner.

In other words - music does occur in a cultural context and is not as
entirely transcendent as Romantic tradition would have us believe. I'm =
not
quite saying 'white guys can't play the blues' - just that the =
historical
context out of which music grows is part of its meaning and strength =
and,
maybe, even its weakness.=20

Noel Taylor =20

=20

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