I agree wholeheartedly Tom (I presume/assume here I am not a mere pantomime luteplayer) that Ragossnig's recordings are exciting and superbly done. So good they ought to have gotten on the public hit parade. Could the reason why these recordings didn't reach that level of public exposure is that they were considered niche or Archival or Nonesuch? Did they set the entertainment value bar so high that their sales/distribution/imitation were suppressed by some nattering nabobs in the USA? (I apologize for borrowing a phrase from crook Spiro Agnew).
Also, in view of the strong proclivities/preferences of today's top lute gurus for gut strings, thumb under, etc I can understand a preference for purity, but I cannot help remember my deceased father's statement, made over and over again whenever artistic disputes arose at home: "de gustibus non est disputandum" Do any of the superscholars here know or remember who was the source of this cogent statement that there is no point in disputing a lot about personal tastes? Mark Seifert From: "t...@heartistrymusic.com" <t...@heartistrymusic.com> To: Stephen Stubbs <fartrea...@gmail.com>; David Smith <d...@dolcesfogato.com> Cc: "<lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>; Stephen Stubbs <fartrea...@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 7:06 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness > If we want more audience we need to be inclusive and not exclusive... Very well said David. > I too remember Julian Bream as an early introduction ... For me it was walking into a record store just before my senior year in college and finding "Musik fur 2 & 3 Lauten". Archiv Produktion - 2533 323 I now know that modern lutenists don't like Ragossnig's playing with nails, but I still think it's a fine album. As someone said in an earlier comment about Bream, the artistry and musical content were there. It also featured Juergen Huebscher and Dieter Kirsch as ensemble partners. Wonderful music! Tom If we want more audience we need to be inclusive and not exclusive. A number of comments on this thread appear exclusive; almost a parody of the attitude that has been attributed to main stream classical musicians. Stephen, I heartily agree with your comments. The lute community is and will continue to evolve. The challenge is to embrace people with wide variety of interest and background while continuing to explore and disseminate what was. I too remember Julian Bream as an early introduction and seeing my first lute in college. I joined the collegium and within 2 years had built my first lute. David Sent from my iPhone On Aug 12, 2013, at 6:24 AM, Stephen Stubbs <[1]fartrea...@gmail.com> wrote: > [Stephen] > There is an interesting book by Phyllis Tickle entitled The Great > Emergence. It deals with modern Christianity and how it is > evolving. > > > I think her main theme applies to the lute world as well. The > 'traditionalist' or 'fundamentalist' lute group will decline, and a > rise of a 'hybrid' (Phyllis had another term for this, but I've > forgotten what it was) lute group will occur. If not, the lute will > slowly fade away. > > The lute world needs to reach out to the non-traditional audience. > The SCA and the followers of Sting are a prime resource that should > be cultivated and encouraged. > > For What It's Worth > "The Other" Stephen Stubbs > Champaign, IL USA > > "Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will > not have, nor do they deserve, either one." Benjamin Franklin > (American Statesman, Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Writer, and > Inventor. 1706-1790) > > -----Original Message----- > [Tom] Are we trying creatively to increase general audience for > lute music here, or are we practicing exclusivity? I'm looking at > SCA and Ren Faires solely as a group of potential music buyers. Why > not encourage the interest and point it in the right direction? > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362 -- -- References 1. mailto:fartrea...@gmail.com