There's a lot of historical truth in this, Jef, from what I
understand. I still think Vern has a valid point.
In my experience playing in bars, I've had everything from rapt
attention to outright hostility (when Bill Evans, in financial
desperation, took a job for two weeks playing opposite the Clancy
Brothers and Tommy Makem at the Village Vanguard - surely the worst
audience for our music I ever remember, but they were fine for the
Irish music).
Chuck
On Feb 19, 2007, at 9:36 AM, shirling & neueweise wrote:
when in days of old, people wanted to hear music (because they
recognized that their lives were barren without it), they would go
to the town square.... It was considered a special event, an
important ingredient in their lives, and the ears and mind were
open and ready to invest to this pursuit of spiritual adventure.
that's a bit of a romantic vision of things; the reality is that
there were other periods than ours where the concert experience was
similar to what you deplore, with people talking, socializing,
playing cards etc. while the performance was going on, and not just
in the theatres, also in the aristocratic salons, which are usually
assumed to have the pretention of a "high art" experience. and in
the case of "attentive" salon listening, social convention or even
social politics was quite often the main concern, to a far greater
degree than the "music" itself. very early in the 19th c. this
changed, of course, but at varying speeds and to varying degrees
according to the centre, the proportion between aristocratic or
public control of the local scene, and social layer you view the
problem from, but the modern era is not the only one plagued by
inattentiveness. the reasons are quite different, admittedly, but
it certainly isn't as black and white as you are suggesting.
do you really think the drunk saloon patrons in the late 18th were
more respectful of the musicians' playing than the drunk jazzbar
patrons of today?
--
shirling & neueweise ... new music publishers
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] :.../ http://newmusicnotation.com
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