Re: gilded script on the inlay

[Seth Austen <klezmusic...>]

on 1/16/02 11:17 AM, Joshua Horowitz at horowitz (at) budowitz(dot)com wrote:

> Kick me for saying this, but there may be something to be said for the
> modern agents of change, which include
> 
> mis-remembering verses; mis-learning tunes from written rather than sound
> sources; mis-interpreting texts and generally missing the point.
> 
> All of these are genuine catalysts of change, and whether we choose to
> accept them as valid or not, they are an inseparable part of the modern
> musical landscape. And most of the "mis-whatevers" were probably formerly
> also catalysts for musical change and variance. Again, kick me for writing
> this Judith. Really.

Josh,

This is a great point! I think there are many instances where we learn from
a flawed source. Once people started recording music into a three minute
medium of 78's for distribution and sale in a commercial marketplace, that
completely changed the tradition as it had previously existed. And yet we
all gather around our coveted sound reproduction devices, hanging on every
note of these reissues as wisdom handed down from on high. As well we
should, I might add. But our sources are not accurate resprentations of what
the music sounded like at a Jewish wedding, or a Saturday night house party
for that matter. They are accurate representations of what it sounded like
in a recording studio, with a producer telling them, no don't do it that
way, do it this way instead. No, that song of your repertoire isn't Jewish
enough, or blues enough...

Many ethnomusicological recordings can also reflect the bias of the
collector. How many collectors didn't record something because it didn't
support a point they wished to make?

OK, you can all kick me too.

Seth
 
-- 
Seth Austen

http://www.sethausten.com
emails: seth (at) sethausten(dot)com
klezmusic (at) earthlink(dot)net


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