gilded script on the inlay

[Judith R Cohen <judithc...>]

> Our contract
> > does not include the production of a CD, nor does it include the tune Quando
> > el rey nimrod nor leather binding and gilded script on the inlay. 

OK, give me a break here. WHo said anything about Nimrod or leather
binding? I've already SAID it's great that these are mostly unknown
songs.Others (and I agree) have already SAID it's a great edition on
good-quality paper. And what does either have to do with the music being
available to hear? As for the "gilded script", what's the point of this
sort of sarcasm, which is atypical of you?

I'll say it once more and then I'll stop because I'm not interested in
making this a fight.

It is not a daunting task technologically or economically to include a
cd with a book, or to produce one and sell it later, as a companion,
annnouncing in the book that one plans (does not contract oneself
legally, plans) to do so.

It is not an unreasonable thing to expect.

No one, including myself, has said a word of anything but praise for
your book.

> , to criticize what is NOT included in a production is a
> potentially endless task. 

A normal part of disucssing a book, cd, article, or anything else IS in
fact to discuss what isn't there as well as what is there.

Discuss, not accuse.

You may not have the notion that not having a recording lessened the
quality of your work, fine.

I do feel it lessens NOT the quality, but the relevance and importance
of it, precisely BECAUSE it is such a good book. If it weren't, who
would care?

Finally, a question:

Let's say a certain repertoire of Yiddish song from an area not
well-represented on extant recordings.  with all its nuances,
variations, differences -

or, say, Jewish instrumental music from Transylvania as on that Muszikas
recording - or some other lesser-known klezmer repertoire -

were ONLY available in a volume of great transcriptions, but most of the
people who bought the volume to learn to perform the music were ONLY
working from - wonderful - transcriptions, and had heard very little if
any, people who grew up with Yiddish song or with klezmer performing it.
They'd only heard some arrangements, and not sung in traditional style,
of other Yiddish songs from different areas, or other klezmer, and most
of them had not heard early recordings or documentary recordings;

But they say, Oh, there's a pronunciation guide, terrific
transcriptions, and some good introductory notes, and after all I HAVE
heard several people who also don't know the tradition very well singing
/playing arrangements of it. So I can learn this ok, I really don't need
to know what it sounds like.

And one more time,
everyone LIKES the book, Josh. Me too. 

I talked with several friends and colleagues yesterday at the music
department, which is focused on ethnomusicology but also a lot on
performance - jazz, popular music, world music ensembles - far from
being a stuffy western art music cubbyhole. The immediate reaction of
every single person was "great-looking book! how's the cd that came with
it? - it didn't? why not?...."

You seem to have two very different issues here:

-what your contract and publishing conditions were;
- whether it's important to include a CD.

And you seem to be simultaneously arguing for both having wanted to
include one and the publisher not agreeing;
and for thinking it isn't important to have one.

But I guess that's it, I've been more redundant than I wanted to be
already. Judith

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