My sadness right now is about the fact that Dennis Bathory is so smart. And no, I'm not being ironic.
In the course of these posts and the responses to them (now approaching book-length), Bathory writes as fine and clear an exposition of the dilemma of modern composition as has been made (and this is my field, so I know the literature). His analysis of the economic, cultural, psychological and educational forces at work is spot on. And out of this wonderful analysis comes...(wait for it)...a ridiculous, draconian agenda. So we have the sorry spectacle of otherwise intelligent Listers diving for their history books to see if they will be allowed to "save" certain composers--as if it made any difference whether you were an embryo or an infant when Bartok died. Others make their way to the confessional to admit that they cannot measure up to the strict protocols of the New Regime, and are wearily resigned to spending their lives in the Ancient One--a purgatory from which no redemption will be granted. I could absorb this with a lot more humor if the analogies with other best-and-brightests leading us into intellectual catastrophe weren't so obvious. You can supply your own examples--there's no shortage of them. --David A. Lawrence _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
