[LUTE] Re: review
I've both been told you should do this full time! and to not quit the day job. As a pragmatic realist with a taste for a regular paycheck (and neither a fascist rock band nor a peddler of nocturnal obscuration), I have elected to execute the latter. Eugene -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Rob MacKillop Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 3:13 AM To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] review I've had favourable and unfavourable reviews over the years, but this one is in a category of its own: There is a choking quality of nocturnal obscuration in this instrument which suits you and this hopefully-painfully numbly depressive declamation of exquisite emptiness. The wood in the sound engulfs the throat and presses the forehead in a clutching gentility to highlight your very focused phrasing. ???So, you liked it??? Anyone else have reviews they would like to share? Rob -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Your plug or my review? On Jun 1, 2009, at 10:08 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Actually I found it rather sociopathic. RT On Jun 1, 2009, at 4:54 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. Thanks for the plug. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Mark Twain on opera: Daniel Winheld wrote: Is it true that Mark Twain actually wrote: Wagner's music isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.? (Now THAT is clear, concise, communicative writing!) It appears that Edgar Wilson Bill Nye had the original quote: Bill Nye Born: 1850-08-25 Died: 1896-02-22 Bill Nye Biography I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds. [ Funny Music Quotes] Wagner's music is better than it sounds. - Mark Twain's Autobiography (re-quoting humorist Edgar Wilson Bill Nye) Here are some other Twain quotes on Wagner and opera: I have witnessed and greatly enjoyed the first act of everything which Wagner created, but the effect on me has always been so powerful that one act was quite sufficient; whenever I have witnessed two acts I have gone away physically exhausted; and whenever I have ventured an entire opera the result has been the next thing to suicide. - Mark Twain in Eruption I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but will all my heart. To me an opera is the very climax cap-stone of the absurd, the fantastic the unjustifiable. I hate the very name of opera - partly because of the nights of suffering I have endured in its presence, partly because I want to love it and can't. I suppose one naturally hates the things he wants to love can't. In America the opera is an affectation. The seeming love for [it] is a lie. Nine out of every ten of the males are bored by it 5 out of 10 women. Yet how they applaud, the ignorant liars! - What a poor lot we human beings are, anyway. If base music gives me wings, why should I want any other? But I do. I want to like the higher music because the higher better like it. But you see, I want to like it without taking the necessary trouble giving the thing the necessary amount of time attention. The natural suggestion is, to get into that upper tier, that dress circle, by a lie: we will pretend we like it. This lie, this pretense, gives to opera what support it has in America. - Notebook # 15, July - August 1878 One in 50 of those who attend our operas likes it already, perhaps, but I think a good many of other 49 go in order to learn to like it, and the rest in order to be able to talk knowingly about it. The latter usually hum the airs while they are being sung, so that their neighbors may perceive that they have been to operas before. The funeral of these do not occur often enough. - A Tramp Abroad Do a Google search for Mark Twain quotes and you'll find a lot. Most of them are shorter than those I've listed above. He has many 1 liners that are truly astounding and humorous. Best, Stephen. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Whatever your perspicacity tells you. RT From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com Your plug or my review? On Jun 1, 2009, at 10:08 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Actually I found it rather sociopathic. RT On Jun 1, 2009, at 4:54 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. Thanks for the plug. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Now, THAT is a great word! ed At 10:20 PM 6/2/2009 -0400, Roman Turovsky wrote: Whatever your perspicacity tells you. RT Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: e...@gamutstrings.com voice: (218) 728-1202 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Once a professional critic wrote about a recital of mine that my lute sounded like a crackling painting. Untill now I still don't know what substance he was on.xD Op 1 jun 2009, om 14:57 heeft howard posner het volgende geschreven: On Jun 1, 2009, at 5:31 AM, Rob MacKillop wrote: The guy is a native-English speaker, so has no excuse, and, no, I have no idea what he is talking about. Still, a review's a review! It has the virtue of being obviously obscure; you're not deluded by apparently clear writing into thinking it actually says anything worth knowing. I've been involved in writing and editing reviews of one sort or another (I'm doing both between reading and writing these posts) and I've seen lots of reviews that appear to be using plain English but consist entirely of throat-clearing, introductions of topics that aren't pursued, and characterizations that are meaningful only to the writer; at the end, there's no actual meaning. Here's a famous bit of critical drivel, from a 1979 review of Queen's Jazz album by a rock critic with a big reputation. The prose is fine, but when you've read it, try to relate it something in the real world. Does fascist rock band actually mean something? Or is the critic just suffering the effects of keen distaste mixed with drugs? Whatever its claims, Queen isn't here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, We Will Rock You, is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas. For context, you can read the whole rant at: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review/ 5942056 -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. RT From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com The Los Angeles Times critic once called a set of program notes I did for the LA Philharmonic oddly conventional. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
On Mon, Jun 1, 2009, howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com said: Anyone else have reviews they would like to share? oddly conventional. seems he has issues with conventions! Not so much reviews, but, as I am assured, there is a language which scholars employ to describe music. I am willing to believe they know whereof they speak each unto another; but I confess to being quite at sea when I of music that is 'transparent'. Somehow, to me, prose simply cant cope with music, music speaks for itself. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
On Jun 1, 2009, at 4:54 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. Thanks for the plug. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
I once had a reviewer say that I played music from largely bygone centuries any idea what that means? JM __ From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu on behalf of Lex van Sante Sent: Mon 6/1/2009 9:12 AM To: lute mailing list list Subject: [LUTE] Re: review Once a professional critic wrote about a recital of mine that my lute sounded like a crackling painting. Untill now I still don't know what substance he was on.xD Op 1 jun 2009, om 14:57 heeft howard posner het volgende geschreven: On Jun 1, 2009, at 5:31 AM, Rob MacKillop wrote: The guy is a native-English speaker, so has no excuse, and, no, I have no idea what he is talking about. Still, a review's a review! It has the virtue of being obviously obscure; you're not deluded by apparently clear writing into thinking it actually says anything worth knowing. I've been involved in writing and editing reviews of one sort or another (I'm doing both between reading and writing these posts) and I've seen lots of reviews that appear to be using plain English but consist entirely of throat-clearing, introductions of topics that aren't pursued, and characterizations that are meaningful only to the writer; at the end, there's no actual meaning. Here's a famous bit of critical drivel, from a 1979 review of Queen's Jazz album by a rock critic with a big reputation. The prose is fine, but when you've read it, try to relate it something in the real world. Does fascist rock band actually mean something? Or is the critic just suffering the effects of keen distaste mixed with drugs? Whatever its claims, Queen isn't here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, We Will Rock You, is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas. For context, you can read the whole rant at: [1]http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review / 5942056 -- To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review/ 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Obviously using you're performance as practice material for the next Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. There is a choking quality of nocturnal obscuration in this instrument which suits you and this hopefully-painfully numbly depressive declamation of exquisite emptiness. The wood in the sound engulfs the throat and presses the forehead in a clutching gentility to highlight your very focused phrasing. - or maybe it's only a really bad Absinthe hangover. But congratulations, anyway! Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2008 Results Winner: Purple Prose The mongrel dog began to lick her cheek voraciously with his sopping wet tongue, so wide and flat and soft, a miniature pink fleshy cape soaked through and oozing with liquid salivary gratitude; after all, she had rescued him from the clutches of Bernard, the curmudgeonly one-eyed dogcatcher, whose own tongue -- she remembered vividly the tongues of all her lovers -- was coarse and lethargic, like a slug in a sandpaper trenchcoat. Runner-Up: The complementary crepuscularities of earth and sky shrank away from one another as the roseate effulgence of a new dawn burst forth, not unlike a reclining pneumatic beauty's black silk stocking splitting apart at the seam to reveal the glowing radiance of an angrily sun-burned leg. Dishonorable Mention: The pancake batter looked almost perfect, like the morning sun shining on the cream-colored bare shoulder of a gorgeous young blonde driving 30 miles over the speed limit down a rural Nebraska highway with the rental car's sunroof open, except it had a few lumps. Winner: Adventure Leopold looked up at the arrow piercing the skin of the dirigible with a sort of wondrous dismay -- the wheezy shriek was just the sort of sound he always imagined a baby moose being beaten with a pair of accordions might make. -- -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Not exactly ALL lute, but here are a couple I'm pretty proud of: Hi again Ed, I Wish You Happiness is out of this world! I wonder if SMAP would want to bring it into their repertoire? I can imagine that anyone getting married would insist on having that song as part of their celebration. .. and I haven't even listened to the rest yet - though I read your lyrics and admit they made me cry. You are incredible! - Katherine I thought everything you sent was great. Do you own the rights to all the masters, too? Janet Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan edurb...@sea.plala.or.jp http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
I rather like this, and might take is as an autojustification, as it implies that the past is still alive, at least in part. RT - Original Message - From: Mayes, Joseph ma...@rowan.edu To: Lex van Sante lvansa...@wanadoo.nl; lute mailing list list lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 10:24 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: review I once had a reviewer say that I played music from largely bygone centuries any idea what that means? JM __ From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu on behalf of Lex van Sante Sent: Mon 6/1/2009 9:12 AM To: lute mailing list list Subject: [LUTE] Re: review Once a professional critic wrote about a recital of mine that my lute sounded like a crackling painting. Untill now I still don't know what substance he was on.xD Op 1 jun 2009, om 14:57 heeft howard posner het volgende geschreven: On Jun 1, 2009, at 5:31 AM, Rob MacKillop wrote: The guy is a native-English speaker, so has no excuse, and, no, I have no idea what he is talking about. Still, a review's a review! It has the virtue of being obviously obscure; you're not deluded by apparently clear writing into thinking it actually says anything worth knowing. I've been involved in writing and editing reviews of one sort or another (I'm doing both between reading and writing these posts) and I've seen lots of reviews that appear to be using plain English but consist entirely of throat-clearing, introductions of topics that aren't pursued, and characterizations that are meaningful only to the writer; at the end, there's no actual meaning. Here's a famous bit of critical drivel, from a 1979 review of Queen's Jazz album by a rock critic with a big reputation. The prose is fine, but when you've read it, try to relate it something in the real world. Does fascist rock band actually mean something? Or is the critic just suffering the effects of keen distaste mixed with drugs? Whatever its claims, Queen isn't here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, We Will Rock You, is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas. For context, you can read the whole rant at: [1]http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review / 5942056 -- To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review/ 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
I suppose he just did not know the difference between Renaissance Medieval and Baroque, so large bygone centuries would do.. Donatella To: Lex van Sante lvansa...@wanadoo.nl; lute mailing list list lute@cs.dartmouth.edu; Mayes, Joseph ma...@rowan.edu Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 4:51 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: review I rather like this, and might take is as an autojustification, as it implies that the past is still alive, at least in part. RT - Original Message - From: Mayes, Joseph ma...@rowan.edu To: Lex van Sante lvansa...@wanadoo.nl; lute mailing list list lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 10:24 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: review I once had a reviewer say that I played music from largely bygone centuries any idea what that means? JM __ From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu on behalf of Lex van Sante Sent: Mon 6/1/2009 9:12 AM To: lute mailing list list Subject: [LUTE] Re: review Once a professional critic wrote about a recital of mine that my lute sounded like a crackling painting. Untill now I still don't know what substance he was on.xD Op 1 jun 2009, om 14:57 heeft howard posner het volgende geschreven: On Jun 1, 2009, at 5:31 AM, Rob MacKillop wrote: The guy is a native-English speaker, so has no excuse, and, no, I have no idea what he is talking about. Still, a review's a review! It has the virtue of being obviously obscure; you're not deluded by apparently clear writing into thinking it actually says anything worth knowing. I've been involved in writing and editing reviews of one sort or another (I'm doing both between reading and writing these posts) and I've seen lots of reviews that appear to be using plain English but consist entirely of throat-clearing, introductions of topics that aren't pursued, and characterizations that are meaningful only to the writer; at the end, there's no actual meaning. Here's a famous bit of critical drivel, from a 1979 review of Queen's Jazz album by a rock critic with a big reputation. The prose is fine, but when you've read it, try to relate it something in the real world. Does fascist rock band actually mean something? Or is the critic just suffering the effects of keen distaste mixed with drugs? Whatever its claims, Queen isn't here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, We Will Rock You, is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas. For context, you can read the whole rant at: [1]http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review / 5942056 -- To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/195592/review/ 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Composer/organist Max Reger had the best response to a bad review when he wrote to his reviewer: I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me. CW --- On Mon, 6/1/09, Rob MacKillop luteplay...@googlemail.com wrote: From: Rob MacKillop luteplay...@googlemail.com Subject: [LUTE] review To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 3:13 AM I've had favourable and unfavourable reviews over the years, but this one is in a category of its own: There is a choking quality of nocturnal obscuration in this instrument which suits you and this hopefully-painfully numbly depressive declamation of exquisite emptiness. The wood in the sound engulfs the throat and presses the forehead in a clutching gentility to highlight your very focused phrasing. ???So, you liked it??? Anyone else have reviews they would like to share? Rob -- To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
On Jun 1, 2009, at 9:15 AM, chriswi...@yahoo.com wrote: Composer/organist Max Reger had the best response to a bad review when he wrote to his reviewer: I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me. Reger was actually paraphrasing Voltaire: Dear Sir, I am seated in the smallest room in the house. Your letter is before me. Soon it will be behind me. Reger was hardly capable of such pithiness. Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Rob MacKillop wrote: I've had favourable and unfavourable reviews over the years, but this one is in a category of its own: There is a choking quality of nocturnal obscuration in this instrument which suits you and this hopefully-painfully numbly depressive declamation of exquisite emptiness. The wood in the sound engulfs the throat and presses the forehead in a clutching gentility to highlight your very focused phrasing. ???So, you liked it??? I think this gets filed under If you can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. Stephen Fryer To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Is it true that Mark Twain actually wrote: Wagner's music isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.? (Now THAT is clear, concise, communicative writing!) -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
I once had a reviewer say that I played music from largely bygone centuries any idea what that means? Joe, it means that at least some of your music was from smallish non-gone centuries Do you still have the program? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Who knows, but his music was my own gateway drug that let me here. RT From: Daniel Winheld dwinh...@comcast.net Is it true that Mark Twain actually wrote: Wagner's music isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.? (Now THAT is clear, concise, communicative writing!) -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Howard, before you really set out to position yourself as a shallow critic: you should at least try to acquaint yourself with Reger's music (a lot of it is rather grand, FYI...). You may even try some on your baroque lute, if you have scruples: http://polyhymnion.org/swv/images/REGER.pdf RT From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com Composer/organist Max Reger had the best response to a bad review when he wrote to his reviewer: I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me. Reger was actually paraphrasing Voltaire: “Dear Sir, I am seated in the smallest room in the house. Your letter is before me. Soon it will be behind me.” Reger was hardly capable of such pithiness. Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Actually I found it rather sociopathic. RT On Jun 1, 2009, at 4:54 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. Thanks for the plug. -- Your LSAQ TJohnson-TBurris review was just plain odd. RT From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com The Los Angeles Times critic once called a set of program notes I did for the LA Philharmonic oddly conventional. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
meant LED me. RT - Original Message - From: Roman Turovsky r.turov...@verizon.net To: Lutelist lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 1:00 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: review Who knows, but his music was my own gateway drug that let me here. RT From: Daniel Winheld dwinh...@comcast.net Is it true that Mark Twain actually wrote: Wagner's music isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.? (Now THAT is clear, concise, communicative writing!) -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
On Jun 1, 2009, at 9:49 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: before you really set out to position yourself as a shallow critic: you should at least try to acquaint yourself with Reger's music (a lot of it is rather grand, FYI...). If I set out to position myself as any kind of critic, I'll do it by writing about something that more than 100 people on the planet care about. Nobody, with the possible exception of Rudolf Louis, ever got positioned anywhere by writing about Reger. I suppose I could make a stab at being the first if I wrote in Rolling Stone that he composed the first fascist sinfonietta, but it's a longshot. BTW, aside from implying that it wasn't pithy, something Roman doesn't voice disagreement with, I expressed no opinion about Reger's music. Nor did I say I was unacquainted with it, though I suppose he inferred as much by first inferring that I didn't like any of it and then assuming that dislike stemmed from ignorance. And there's no question that he's better known that one non-substantive scatological snipe than for the Sinfonietta that occasioned it. Roman is undoubtedly defensive because Reger has been unduly dumped on, with a lot of published regurgitators (like Wallechinsky and Wallace in The Book of Lists) picking up on Stravinsky's distate for Reger and calling him the worst composer ever. Talk about memorable critiques: Stravinsky once remarked when he was young he met Reger, and He and his music repulsed me in about equal measure. Stravinsky would use the description dull as Reger. And if you're a big fan of outraged pan reviews, try this excerpt from Felton and Fowler's list-book, Best, Worst and Most Unusual, under the entries worst composer, worst piano concerto, and worst string quartet: http://books.google.com/books?id=tpu2du-miikCpg=PA56lpg=PA56dq=% 22dull+as+reger% 22source=blots=j_CM8T07mwsig=GwyfdAFuizSyAoEI1mxxjWYRNq8hl=enei=JDA kSvj1NJ6utAO998ShBAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1#PPA56,M1 Of course, if one critic's nasty notice could define the world's worst composer, concerto or quartet, Beethoven could just as easily have won those titles. So some listeners are surprised to find they actually like Reger. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
These are HOWARD POSNER'S OWN words about Reger: Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... Sure smels like an opinion to me, and a nasty one at that. How did the Presto go on your baroque lute? (http://polyhymnion.org/swv/images/REGER.pdf) RT - Original Message - From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Net lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 4:35 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: review On Jun 1, 2009, at 9:49 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: before you really set out to position yourself as a shallow critic: you should at least try to acquaint yourself with Reger's music (a lot of it is rather grand, FYI...). If I set out to position myself as any kind of critic, I'll do it by writing about something that more than 100 people on the planet care about. Nobody, with the possible exception of Rudolf Louis, ever got positioned anywhere by writing about Reger. I suppose I could make a stab at being the first if I wrote in Rolling Stone that he composed the first fascist sinfonietta, but it's a longshot. BTW, aside from implying that it wasn't pithy, something Roman doesn't voice disagreement with, I expressed no opinion about Reger's music. Nor did I say I was unacquainted with it, though I suppose he inferred as much by first inferring that I didn't like any of it and then assuming that dislike stemmed from ignorance. And there's no question that he's better known that one non-substantive scatological snipe than for the Sinfonietta that occasioned it. Roman is undoubtedly defensive because Reger has been unduly dumped on, with a lot of published regurgitators (like Wallechinsky and Wallace in The Book of Lists) picking up on Stravinsky's distate for Reger and calling him the worst composer ever. Talk about memorable critiques: Stravinsky once remarked when he was young he met Reger, and He and his music repulsed me in about equal measure. Stravinsky would use the description dull as Reger. And if you're a big fan of outraged pan reviews, try this excerpt from Felton and Fowler's list-book, Best, Worst and Most Unusual, under the entries worst composer, worst piano concerto, and worst string quartet: http://books.google.com/books?id=tpu2du-miikCpg=PA56lpg=PA56dq=% 22dull+as+reger% 22source=blots=j_CM8T07mwsig=GwyfdAFuizSyAoEI1mxxjWYRNq8hl=enei=JDA kSvj1NJ6utAO998ShBAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1#PPA56,M1 Of course, if one critic's nasty notice could define the world's worst composer, concerto or quartet, Beethoven could just as easily have won those titles. So some listeners are surprised to find they actually like Reger. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
On Jun 1, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: These are HOWARD POSNER'S OWN words about Reger: Nice to see my name in bigger type than Reger's. Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... If it's nasty to say 1) Reger's bowel movement remark is more famous than any of his music, 2) Reger didn't dispute anything Louis said, and 3) the Sinfonietta is pretty much unknown, so be it. Sorry, we've gotten way OT. It's long past time to end this digression. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com On Jun 1, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: These are HOWARD POSNER'S OWN words about Reger: Nice to see my name in bigger type than Reger's. That's what happens when lawyers lose vigilance about what they commit to e-mail. Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... If it's nasty to say 1) Reger's bowel movement remark is more famous than any of his music, 2) Reger didn't dispute anything Louis said, and 3) the Sinfonietta is pretty much unknown, so be it. What Louis said has no relevance wahtsoever. Reger remains in the repertoire, whether Louis likes it or not. Louis however does not appear in anybody's repertoire. Show of hands, anyone? Sorry, we've gotten way OT. It's long past time to end this digression. It is not OT, first by the virtue of my lowly arrangement of his Presto for unaccompanied violin, and second - I am putting finishing touches on my Klaglied/Tombeau for Reger. RT To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Howard, Felton and Fowler: His compositions are generally regarded as ponderous, overworked and cluttered with too many notes. Are they writing about Reger or Mozart? (Even Burney quotes a friend as saying, [Mozart] is one further instance of early fruit being more extraordinary than excellent.) Chris --- On Mon, 6/1/09, howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com wrote: From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com Subject: [LUTE] Re: review To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Net lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 4:35 PM On Jun 1, 2009, at 9:49 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: before you really set out to position yourself as a shallow critic: you should at least try to acquaint yourself with Reger's music (a lot of it is rather grand, FYI...). If I set out to position myself as any kind of critic, I'll do it by writing about something that more than 100 people on the planet care about. Nobody, with the possible exception of Rudolf Louis, ever got positioned anywhere by writing about Reger. I suppose I could make a stab at being the first if I wrote in Rolling Stone that he composed the first fascist sinfonietta, but it's a longshot. BTW, aside from implying that it wasn't pithy, something Roman doesn't voice disagreement with, I expressed no opinion about Reger's music. Nor did I say I was unacquainted with it, though I suppose he inferred as much by first inferring that I didn't like any of it and then assuming that dislike stemmed from ignorance. And there's no question that he's better known that one non-substantive scatological snipe than for the Sinfonietta that occasioned it. Roman is undoubtedly defensive because Reger has been unduly dumped on, with a lot of published regurgitators (like Wallechinsky and Wallace in The Book of Lists) picking up on Stravinsky's distate for Reger and calling him the worst composer ever. Talk about memorable critiques: Stravinsky once remarked when he was young he met Reger, and He and his music repulsed me in about equal measure. Stravinsky would use the description dull as Reger. And if you're a big fan of outraged pan reviews, try this excerpt from Felton and Fowler's list-book, Best, Worst and Most Unusual, under the entries worst composer, worst piano concerto, and worst string quartet: [1]http://books.google.com/books?id=tpu2du-miikCpg=PA56lpg=PA56dq=% 22dull+as+reger% 22source=blots=j_CM8T07mwsig=GwyfdAFuizSyAoEI1mxxjWYRNq8hl=enei=JD A kSvj1NJ6utAO998ShBAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1#PPA56,M1 Of course, if one critic's nasty notice could define the world's worst composer, concerto or quartet, Beethoven could just as easily have won those titles. So some listeners are surprised to find they actually like Reger. -- To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=tpu2du-miikCpg=PA56lpg=PA56dq=% 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: review
Howard, One of the most interesting things of following this list is to watch Roman get worked up about something. You should not take it personally. It's what he does. It's delightfully unamerican. Every now and then I think of coming up with something just to torque him up for the fun of it, but his bon mot are too valuable to waste. all in good fun, Craig --- On Mon, 6/1/09, howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com wrote: From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com Subject: [LUTE] Re: review To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Net lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 4:30 PM On Jun 1, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: These are HOWARD POSNER'S OWN words about Reger: Nice to see my name in bigger type than Reger's. Nonetheless, this is the only famous thing Reger ever wrote, far outstripping any of his music. It even conveyed a bit of immortality on Rudolf Louis, the critic, without actually disputing anything he said. Quick show of hands: can anyone remember ever hearing Reger's Sinfonietta, which was the work Louis had panned? Let's not all speak up at once... If it's nasty to say 1) Reger's bowel movement remark is more famous than any of his music, 2) Reger didn't dispute anything Louis said, and 3) the Sinfonietta is pretty much unknown, so be it. Sorry, we've gotten way OT. It's long past time to end this digression. To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
