Re: And why. . .? (long)

"Nora Renka" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Speaking as a musicology student (and long-time lurker; I haven't
> processed my thoughts sufficiently to be happy putting them out in a
> printed format...

It's never stopped me. Of course, I'm probably more a nuisance than anything
else.

[...]
> Almost all of the high-level, serious, and complicated analysis of the
> music has been done by men--partially because music theorists are
> overwhelmingly male.  That's a literature that doesn't get discussed
> much here, partially because it requires a fairly high level of
> technical knowledge, and partially because it's less accessible; how
> many of us here have ready access to 19th Century Music?

I'm not sure what you mean by that last clause. Access to recordings, or the
scores? Because I have a nearly complete (of the operas) Wagner score
collection (and a sizable Strauss) thanks to the wonder that is Dover
Publications. And anyone living near a university should have access to more
than I. There have been music-theory related posts in the past--probably
half have something to do with the Tristan chord--some of which I have
started myself, but you're right when you say that there is little interest,
for whatever reason. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not because of a lack of
utilities, but rather a lack of interest. I love Derrick, Laon, Mike,
Richard, etc. but as far as I know, none of them are musicians, and I'm not
sure how many of them have even cracked open a musical score, which frankly
is something I will never understand (my apologies if any of you are in fact
musicians, composers, etc). I mean, how can you love Wagner that much and
not be a musician? It is near impossible for me to sit down and listen to
any of Wagner's, or anyone else's, operas, and not completely dissect it.
Only the most truly sublime moments of music can transport me to that realm
of bliss, such as the Prelude and Good-Friday music and all of Amfortas'
monologue at the end of Parsifal, all of Bruckner's symphonies particularly
the Adagios of the eighth and ninth and the introduction of the seventh, and
the Trio at the end of Rosenkavalier and the Overture to the opera section
of Ariadne auf Naxos.

As a musician/composer of opera, there are things I'd like to discuss, but
which will likely never find audience here, like the signifigance of the
Edim9 chord during Parsifal's Amfortas/Die Wunde cry, the chorale nature of
his (Wagner's) brass writing in, say, the Funeral March, and any number of
matters dealing with late-romantic harmony and Wagner's masterful
orchestration. But then again, I'm not a very good conversationalist,
either, and probably would fail to even articulate my inquiry.

[...]
> I do consider myself engaged with the philosophical issues, although I
> certainly would not claim to know them as well as many of the people
> here--I benefit greatly from reading posts with everyone's expertise.
> (Besides, Richard Strauss is my true love...)  But who knows when the
> urge to emerge from true lurkerdom will strike?
>
> Thank you all; I very much enjoy the discussions on this group.
>
> -Nora

I enjoy the philosophy, especially since I'm a delittante in that field.
Strangely, though, I have never felt the need to read anything about Wagner
aside from what's here and elsewhere on-line, where-as I've read published
biographies on Strauss, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, Beethoven, Handel, etc. Do
I enjoy these other composers more than I enjoy Wagner? Maybe here and
there, but overall, to me, Wagner is 'the master' (Der Meister?). I too have
learned to love Strauss after being "turned on" to his music only as
recently as last year, Chopin was probably the first composer whose music I
ever willingly sought to collect, and Berlioz is one of the many
underappreciated composers I seek to champion, but I have always felt
Wagner's words and music spoke for themselves, and I have not required
written biographies to grasp their meaning, unlike with the others, nor do I
think I ever will; but maybe that's also because there is a place like this
for Wagner, where there isn't one for Strauss, Chopin, and Berlioz. Really
Wagner is the only composer who gets this kind of attention, and sometimes
it honestly frustrates me, as maybe it has frustrated you as a lover of
Strauss.; This is not because I think Wagner deserves less attention (it's
really very great what we have here, and I don't think I'll ever stop
reading), but because I think the others deserve a little attention too. And
yet even if there was an elite community for each of these composers, it
wouldn't be long before they descended into mindless superficialness, like
"So what's your favorite piece?" before eventually dying out, because they
all lack the depth, and the aggrandizement, that has kept and will continue
to keep Wagner at the center of attention for centuries.

REP