Re: Partch (off topic) Terezin (on-topic)

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

He wasn't axed.  He was a visiting professor.  I dare say that, with his
unconventional skills and lack of traditional skills and degrees, they'd have
had a hard time keeping him on.

The man was exceptionally iconoclastic, which indeed meant that he struggled.
Being gay apparently didn't help, either.  Even if he were a bona fide
exception, which I've been contesting, it wouldn't alter the typical trajectory
of composer's careers.  I'd still be hard put to think of any who had zero
musical career and were post mortem declared geniuses.  For one thing, the
chance that remnants of the work of such a person being preserved are slimmer
than had that person published, recorded, performed publically.

To bring this back to topic, I keep getting reminded of the artistic productions
from Terezin, the 'model' Nazi death camp whose victims were permitted (forced?)
to remain artistically active.  I attended programs of Terezin composers a
couple of times and have been asked to work on a couple more.  I'd not been
aware of any of the composers before and I'm not altogether sure what their
reputations would be were it not for their ghastly fate.



Seth Austen wrote:

> on 3/13/03 10:58 AM, Alex Lubet at lubet001 (at) umn(dot)edu wrote:
>
> > I don't actually think you're disagreeing with me at all.  Everyone who
> > records for CRI has to cover costs, which isn't unusual for a classical
> > label, but it's still refereed, in that one still must be chosen.  I
> > wouldn't be surprised if his self-production was financed by grants.  I'd
> > also venture that a loyal following who loves his work enough to play for
> > free is an indication that he transcended obscurity in his lifetime, like
> > having a Guggenheim or a major professorship.
>
> The impression I got from his biography was of obscurity for much of his
> life, despite the Guggenheim or occasional fellowships. At one point in the
> book, it talks of him finally getting a fellowship, besides a tiny office in
> a University basement, he had little or no support from the institution,
> major financial undertaking from his own pocket to ship his instruments to
> the campus, getting axed after a year, etc. Perhaps it's just the normal
> treatment for any composer! I wouldn't know, having never held a university
> teaching position.
>
> Seth
>
> --
> Seth Austen
>
> http://www.sethausten.com
> email: seth (at) sethausten(dot)com
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
Head, Division Of Composition and Music Theory
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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