threading the needle

[roscoetuff-Skip Mersereau]

I'm surprised by the opera lovers. Constantly. Sadly, some say opera lovers are born and not made. Personally I'm of the latter (tending more to prefer music less ostentatious in its presentation... unless we're talking Duke Ellington), but respect those whose taste may vary from my own. In part, I think an appreciation of art extends beyond our own tastes and preferences (likes) to at least intellectually appreciate those works which we might find less appealing to ourselves.

But to round out an earlier comment on Mozart, I once read that until Mendelson, Mozart was quickly (and errantly) forgotten. And yes, most photos and photographers are quickly forgotten. Ansel Adams excepted, few remember the others of f64. If Large Format is to photography as a Bach cello suite were to a symphony, then what is anyone to make of our photos any way, and why do we care? For my part, I think we have to acknowledge that on one very critical level - no one cares much beyond "like" or not, and a photo has to stand on its own.

[h2oman]

My thread's been hijacked! I don't mind at all, though - I look at every thread like a conversation that will likely meander, or perhaps veer entirely off course!

That said, I have to confess that I've never been able to fight my way through the language of Shakespeare, and I don't particularly care for opera. But the talk of music and mention of minimalism/John Adams inspired me to dig out his piece Shaker Loops and fire it up. Next maybe I'll go for Ensemble Modern doing Frank Zappa's Yellow Shark...

[Jim Jones]

Wagner wrote some magnificent orchestral music, but to hear a few minutes of it in context, one must endure hours of Teutonic yowling.

[Heroique]

Wagner wrote some magnificent orchestral music, but to hear a few minutes of it in context, one must endure hours of Teutonic yowling.

And those long periods of stagnating action. I’m recalling that long episode in “Tristan” when King Mark expresses his disappointment in Tristan’s betrayal. Depending on how much pain the conductor wants to inflict on the audience (and presumably the performers), this episode might go on for an hour. Excruciating.

Any LFer who waits, waits, waits for an eternal breeze to subside, just for 5 seconds, feels this pain.

Yet those miraculous moments of “Tristan’s” best music, like the experience of being in a quiet stretch of woods, makes the pain worth it. (I think.)

[Ulophot]

Wagner wrote some magnificent orchestral music, but to hear a few minutes of it in context, one must endure hours of Teutonic yowling.

+1

[Ulophot]

I'll leave my own tastes out, but can't resist saying, you haven't understood Wagner's Ring Cycle until you've heard Anna Russell's take on it. And for Corran and other Schoenberg, Glass, et al. fans, I hope you'll enjoy this little bit of mischief:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzodB0Sp6ZI

[Corran]

HA!

If I was still teaching I would add that song to my curriculum somehow.

Back in undergrad I wrote quite the thesis on Schoenberg's 12-tone technique as applied in his 3rd String Quartet. My professor, who was staunchly opposed to the style, told me directly he had no idea what I was talking about so he just gave me a 95. I'm going to have to analyze the set in that banjo solo at 1:37.

[h2oman]

Love it! "Emotion is for simple folk. Art should be arcane" - really gets at what prompted me to begin this thread.

[Joe O'Hara]

HA!

If I was still teaching I would add that song to my curriculum somehow.

Back in undergrad I wrote quite the thesis on Schoenberg's 12-tone technique as applied in his 3rd String Quartet. My professor, who was staunchly opposed to the style, told me directly he had no idea what I was talking about so he just gave me a 95. I'm going to have to analyze the set in that banjo solo at 1:37.

At the risk of getting this whole thread moved to The Lounge, I'll relate a story about a friend of mine from many years ago. He was studying composition in school, and I was early in my exploration of music. I asked him what was the point of the 12-tone style-- what I'd heard of (and about) it seemed baffling. He replied that "It's just another way of organizing pitch-- like tonality is."

Well I took that cryptic response and thought about it for a very long time. It was long after we'd fallen out of touch that I thought of the perfect follow-up question, "But aren't you supposed to organize them in such a way that they sound good?"

[Corran]

Now what ever gave you that idea Joe?

After much philosophical debate, I believe the "definition" of music we came up with back when I was in college was "organized sound." No reason to sound good, in that context. Taking it back to photography - what if one were to define photography as "organized light?"

I'm having ideas now...