Klarinet Archive - Posting 000091.txt from 2004/02

From: Joe Fasel <jhf@-----.gov>
Subj: Re: [kl] Possibility of making music in the streets / tube in London
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:55:55 -0500

This entry from the OED would seem to cover it:

11. a. A place at which one stations oneself or is stationed; a portion of ground selected by or allotted to a person for residence, business, or any occupation; esp. a spot in a street or other public place at which a stall for the sale or display of something is pitched or set up, or at which a street performer, a bookmaker, etc. stations himself. Also, a crowd gathered by a ‘barker’ or around a stall, etc.; the part of a market, stock exchange, etc., where particular commodities are bought and sold. orig. Amer.

On 2004.02.09 09:42, Ormondtoby Montoya wrote:
> Noel Taylor wrote:
>
> > In fact the OED has 'pitch' as a British usage
> > "a place where a street vendor or performer
> > stations themselves".
>
> It took a few minutes for my memory to percolate, but now I remember
> attending a music festival in the U.K. An evening dance was to be held
> after a concert in order that we could experience the music more
> completely. The gentleman on the stage announced: "The map in your
> program shows where a tent has been erected on the pitch."
>
> I remember wondering at the time whether "pitch" meant that the ground
> was sloped (rolling hills in the area). I decided that this wasn't
> reasonable if we were going to dance, and I began to think about fields
> where cricket is played and balls are "pitched". When I arrived, the
> area was a flat field. A temporary wooden floor had been laid down on
> the field, and a tent had been installed over the floor, but I noticed
> that some of the local people referred to the wooden floor --- not to
> the field --- as "the pitch'.
>
> All of this lodged in the depths of my memory, probably because I
> enjoyed the dance, and your post has summoned all of it back to my
> conscious mind. Now I can see that "pitch" may have referred the fact
> that musicians were playing for us "on the pitch", which was inside a
> tent on this occasion.
>
> It's interesting the think of all the meanings for "pitch", including
> the musical meaning of frequency, as well as a 'sales pitch' and 'sticky
> tar or sap'. The meaning of 'a place to play music' is the one meaning
> not included in my copy of Webster's dictionary.
>
> Thanks, Tim
>
>
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>

Joseph H. Fasel, Ph.D. email: jhf@-----.gov
Systems Planning and Analysis phone: +1 505 667 7158
University of California fax: +1 505 667 2960
Los Alamos National Laboratory post: D-2 MS F609; Los Alamos, NM 87545

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