Klarinet Archive - Posting 000416.txt from 2005/02

From: Georg K=?ISO-8859-1?B?/A==?=hner <520045578938-0001@-----.de>
Subj: Re: [kl] Major vs. minor --- a comment
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 03:45:25 -0500

Am 26.02.2005 22:52 Uhr schrieb "Ormondtoby Montoya" unter
<ormo2ndtoby@-----.net>:

> Klarinet has discussed (more than once) the culture dependency of the
> 'feelings' which are evoked by major and minor scales. I do not intend
> to defend any particular position, but here's a comment:
>
> (I saw the following when I had the dictionary open to "diminutions".)
>
>
>
> "Dur" means "major" in German, and "Moll" means minor. Yet "dur" and
> "moll" also mean "hard" and "soft" in German.
>
> As many of you know (but I didn't know until today), the letter "b" was
> originally used to indicate whether a scale was 'major' or 'minor'. If
> the b's loop was square, the scale was 'major', and if the loop was
> round, the scale was "minor'. Eventually in the German language, the
> sharp corners of a square-looped 'b' evolved into "dur" because the
> corners were 'hard', and the round-looped 'b' became "moll" or 'soft'.

Originally it meant b-rotundus
And b-quadratus

The bottom of the b-quadratus fell out and it became a h

That's all

Regards Georg
>
> In the English language, the words major and minor summon 'feelings' of
> rank and size, rather than of tactile sensations. The 'minor' ranks in
> most organizations can only complain (hence they are they are
> 'plaintive'), whereas the 'major' ranks and feel their power.
>
> A German speaker, however, whether he likes it or not, is describing the
> two scales as 'hard' or 'soft'.
>
> I don't ascribe any significance to this except that these responses to
> major/minor represent two different modes of 'feeling'. This example
> strengthens the concept that the interpretation of major and minor vary
> from one culture to the next.
>
> However, there is also a unity that is buried very deeply in our sensory
> systems.
>
> Yes, all metaphors and analogies fall apart eventually; but 'plaintive'
> does relate to 'submission', and so does softness --- not tensing one's
> muscles in order to fight or escape, not picking up a 'hard' weapon or
> donning armor in order to fight or defend, welcoming a touch, not
> assuming a 'hard' expression of defiance, and so forth
>
> So there is a similarity in both languages if you feel that it's
> appropriate to look deeply enough.
>
> ....just a thought.
>
>
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+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wed Feb 25 - only 15 donations short of the goal. Nothing |
| in life is free - including 5 servers and bandwidth. A reed |
| costs a couple of bucks - what is the list worth? |
| https://secure.donax-us.com/donation/ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org