Is the composer obsolete?

[Philoctetes]

Probably, but it shouldn't matter. Quality should come before quantity. Some composers revolutionized music with a single piece.

And a composer like Duparc comes to mind.

[some guy]

I thought that was established earlier in the thread. That's what I built upon. Are there many composers today with ouvres as vast as those from say a century (or two) ago?

It was stated.

I'm not sure about "many composers today with [ouevres] as vast as those from ... a century ago." Is that what you meant by "diminished output"? I took it to mean "diminished overall" not "less work from each individual composer."

In any event, there are composers today with vast outputs, yes. There are composers from a century or two ago who had very small outputs, too. Not sure what can be made of that. Two extraordinarily talented composers, Varese and Berlioz, had comparatively small outputs. Leif Segerstam has to date written over two hundred symphonies.

[karlhenning]

Was it not Slonimsky himself who critiqued Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the priceless line "it stinks in the ear"?

No, Hanslick.  And yet, the Tchaikovsky Opus 35 was an immediate public success.

[karlhenning]

I'm not sure about "many composers today with [ouevres] as vast as those from ... a century ago." Is that what you meant by "diminished output"? I took it to mean "diminished overall" not "less work from each individual composer."

In any event, there are composers today with vast outputs, yes. There are composers from a century or two ago who had very small outputs, too. Not sure what can be made of that. Two extraordinarily talented composers, Varese and Berlioz, had comparatively small outputs. Leif Segerstam has to date written over two hundred symphonies.

The meaning of such a comparison is certainly elusive.

[Gurn Blanston]

No, Hanslick.  And yet, the Tchaikovsky Opus 35 was an immediate public success.

Nicolas Slonimsky, according to Copland, but it doesn't matter, it's the point. Yes, it was a public success, but the public didn't have a forum. They couldn't even buy the CD. It is the critic's printed epithet that has lived on.

[Philoctetes]

Nicolas Slonimsky, according to Copland, but it doesn't matter, it's the point. Yes, it was a public success, but the public didn't have a forum. They couldn't even buy the CD. It is the critic's printed epithet that has lived on.

I think the larger question, the more pressing one, is what if Gurn was obsolete?

[karlhenning]

Nicolas Slonimsky, according to Copland

What, can't couldn't Copland read?  

The Hanslick quote does appear on p. 207 of the paperback edition of the Lexicon of Musical Invective, but that is a different matter to claiming that Slonimsky said it  

Tchaikowskys Violine Concert bringt uns zum erstenmal auf die schauerliche Idee ob es nicht auch Musikstücke geben könne die man stinken hört.

[Gurn Blanston]

I think the larger question, the more pressing one, is what if Gurn was obsolete?

Are you implying that I'm not? You flatterer!

[bhodges]

and I also did listen again to some "modern" music (Schnittke, to be precise).

Just as an aside, what Schnittke? 

--Bruce

[Gurn Blanston]

What, can't couldn't Copland read? 

The Hanslick quote does appear on p. 207 of the paperback edition of the Lexicon of Musical Invective, but that is a different matter to claiming that Slonimsky said it 

Oh, it rolls so much more trippingly off the tongue in German, don't you think?

[karlhenning]

It is the critic's printed epithet that has lived on.

Imagine if Hanslick had been . . . a bloggueur!  

Oh, it rolls so much more trippingly off the tongue in German, don't you think?

(* chortle *)

[Gurn Blanston]

Just as an aside, what Schnittke? 

--Bruce

Violin Sonata (damned if I can remember. On Chandos), String Quartet #4 (Kronos)

[Gurn Blanston]

Imagine if Hanslick had been . . . a bloggueur! 

(* chortle *)

Our lovely and talented Bruce could make or break the aspiring composer just on the basis of having an upsetting postprandial episode.

[karlhenning]

and I also did listen again to some "modern" music (Schnittke, to be precise).

Just as an aside, what Schnittke? 

What, Bruce! — seeking yet finer precision?  

[Philoctetes]

Are you implying that I'm not? You flatterer!

Anyone who rides on a tractor can't be truly obsolete, can they?

[karlhenning]

Our lovely and talented Bruce could make or break the aspiring composer just on the basis of having an upsetting postprandial episode.

Ah, but then, not all blogues are created equal 

[karlhenning]

Anyone who rides on a tractor can't be truly obsolete, can they?

The essential question being, Is one composed on the tractor?

[Philoctetes]

The essential question being, Is one composed on the tractor?

Only if unclothed.

[bhodges]

Our lovely and talented Bruce could make or break the aspiring composer just on the basis of having an upsetting postprandial episode.

  We're on it.

What, Bruce! — seeking yet finer precision?  

Just curious what the actual decision-maker was...



--Bruce

[rappy]

I've said this a million times, art is not opposed to entertainment. Art is a subset of entertainment. Art does indeed give you something more, and therefore may require more effort, but it only impoverishes itself when it tries to exclude entertainment.

What do you think of my definition:

Art is something which can impress even those who are a master of its trade.