My, oh my – it turns out the good people at New England Conservatory are reeeally touchy about that Charles Ives line I quoted in connection with them (“You never hear negro spirituals mentioned up there to the New England Conservatory!”). I got blown away by my own little personal Hurricane Katrina of sarcasm, via e-mail from their PR department. Number one, Charles Ives said it, not me. Number two, it was more than 80 years ago – you think they’d laugh it off by this point. Number three, I didn’t really consider the line a reflection on NEC – it was Ives, fairly or not, making fun of a hypothetical schoolmarm who considered NEC the respectable final arbiter on all things musical. I suppose I shouldn’t have referred to it as “Ives’s complaint,” then, and I happily withdraw the term.
Number four, I’m from the wrong side of America’s musical tracks, and that quote is about all I have to connect with NEC. The school doesn’t come up often in discussions of Harry Partch, or Diamanda Galas, or Charlemagne Palestine. If I had some historical quotes like the following, I would surely have used them instead:
Harry Partch: “I can never thank New England Conservatory enough for supporting my work on the instruments I needed to complete Delusion of the Fury.”
Glenn Branca: “It was New England Conservatory that nurtured my efforts to write symphonies for electric guitars.”
You go into a blog entry with the historical references you have, not the ones you wish you had, or might hope to have at a later time.
Recent Comments
Phillip Bush on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
One of the most perceptive things I've read about Ives, anywhere. Thank you! Ives' omnivorous vision (if one use such...mclaren on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Once again we get a high-octane musician slamming a composer for producing "naïve" work. And what, I ask you, is...Bob Gilmore on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Agreed. I love Ives 1, terrific piece. But I'd have to say my favourite of all the symphonies is the...M. on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Mr. Plush has already written, in his first sentence, what I would have liked to. Consider it seconded.Bill B on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
You can hear it without going to it. The concert is streamed live over WQXR, as are all of...Vincent Plush on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Kyle, you have just reminded us (as if we needed reminding) why we regard you as one of the most...Steven Ledbetter on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
Sullivan did, indeed, brilliantly solve the problem set him by Gilbert's lyric, but he didn't find it easy. In fact...Paul Schleuse on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
The additive process is clearly there, but the harmony isn't really static. The alternation between D and D maj7/sus4 is...Gene on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
"Das Rheingold" opens with six minutes of tonic, not dominant. KG replies: But after six minutes of E-flat the curtain opens...Juhani Nuorvala on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
The minimalist I'm most reminded of by that Gilbert and Sullivan piece is Tom Johnson. - For additive process, there's...