Klarinet Archive - Posting 000086.txt from 1997/09

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Welk's Taste in Music
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 16:44:20 -0400

On Tue, 2 Sep 1997 Jrykorten@-----.com wrote:

> PS - I do have a recording of 8 harmonicas, 4 accordions and the rest of a
> big band playing "Bridge over River Kwai". Perhaps more musically satisfying
> is a trombone choir and male voices playing "Hawaiian War Chant". Anybody
> stopping by in NYC is welcome to give me a call to come on over and listen!

I also would enjoy hearing that, and the other examples you gave. I also
happen to like certain kinds of bluegrass music (authentic style),
Caribbean steel drum bands, Irish folk music, British brass bands, etc.,
etc. One of my favorite jazz musicians used to be Art van Damme, the
accordianist. This list could go on for a long time.

Still, some things are called music because they are played on musical
instruments or because they are made up of musical notes. This doesn't
mean that they have the same intent as what should properly be called "art
music."

I have asked this question before, possibly on this list. We have access
to paintings of Elvis and Jesus on black velvet, and some people like
them. Does that diminish the value of Rembrandt or Picasso? We can watch
movies such as "Terminator II" (or III or VI, I don't know how many) and
Revenge of the Nerds, and some people like them. Does that mean that I
should abandon my preference for the dramatic works of Shakespeare or
Tennessee Williams or Neil Simon?

What is ultimately going to be required in this discussion is what I have
been trying to avoid, a full-blown discussion of a very difficult topic,
musical aesthetics. I know that to many people, the consideration of such
questions is not only considered unimportant, but even irritating. Others
may prefer to consider such philosophical questions as what do we do, how
do we do it, why, and what does it mean. Wasn't it Socrates who said, "I
think, therefore I am." Or, as I saw it paraphrased in a graffiti once,
"I'm pink, therefore I'm Spam."

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu