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

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

He won the Pulitzer prize late in his life and was well 'discovered' by then.
He had a degree in music and did a good deal of work in church music.  He
self-selected out of a musical vocation and became a very wealthy insurance man,
but even then, he had an underground reputation that attracted composers like
Elliott Carter.

A handful of not terribly convincing exceptions does not disprove the
overwhelming hostorical tendency.

Eliezer Kaplan wrote:

> >I'd still be hard put to think of any who had zero
> > musical career and were post mortem declared geniuses.
>
> What sort of 'musical career' did Charles Ives have in his lifetime?
>                                         ek
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex J. Lubet" <lubet001 (at) umn(dot)edu>
> To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 2:19 PM
> Subject: Re: Partch (off topic) Terezin (on-topic)
>
> > 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)
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

--
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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