On Jan 10, 7:54*am, "Iain Churches" wrote:
"Andre Jute" wrote in message

...



Considering how many there are, naming one in twenty may be too tough
a test except for someone with a copy of Grove on his bathroom
bookshelf.

OK. If one need to refer to a copy of Grove, then one needs
to be a honest and admit to the composers whose works
(and maybe even names) are unfamiliar:-)

No, a person who has to refer to Grove in an effort to find out the
names of composers -- doesn't know what Grove is. I was referring to
the kind of person who actually reads Grove regularly. (I don't, but
there was a time in my teens when I looked up everything, and checked
everything anyone told me, and worked the subject until I knew more
than anyone I was likely to meet -- I must have been an insufferable
little ******* but of course it made me infallible in my middle years.
I read Fowler in the facsimile original edition -- many authors and
editors find the brothers Fowler soothing and inspiring, like a more
grammatical mantra.) I think, Iain, that you'd better hire Andy Evans
and me to set these questions; psychologists know things about
stupidity that recording engineers cannot even dream of...

I might add that the (delicious) unfairness of your original question
to Poopie Stevenson is well demonstrated by the fact that, after
writing about music for 47 years, I can easily point to composers I
discovered only when they were already well-performed, especially
among the living or the recently alive; it is one of my regrets that I
never interviewed Schnittke, for instance. But being ignorant doesn't
embarrass me in the least; I love the thrill of discovery too much! (I
also while I was still in my teens discovered that the manic
knowingness of the trendies is like Chinese food, only fleetingly
satisfying, and my painting teacher, bless his soul, pointed out that
a creator like me would make his own trends if he wasn't distracted by
pretending to be knowledgeable; he took me to see Tretchikoff, the
trendy's darling, who told me he feared he would be remembered only
for "that accursed weeping rose on all the calendars" -- this was
before the establishment condemned him as kitsch for being much more
popular than Picasso and Rothko, neither of whom in my opinion had a
fraction of his talent.)

My Melbourne mate Peter Allen once quoted another Australian
audiophile as saying, "Restraint is playing any favourite disc only
once per month." A single disc -- not symphonic music but a capella
vocals or other chamber music -- can keep me intrigued for a day,
playing it over and over.

That's a good point, and illustrates well the difference in "depth"
between pop and classical music. *For reasons that I won't go into
here, I include some jazz in the classical repertoire.

I make it my
business to listen to popular chart material.

You have our sympathy.

PS I have a photograph here that one of my spies sent me. In the row
of shaven-headed, saffron-robed um-chanters between the gilded spires
of Prathai Doi Suthep, which one are you, Iain? I used to recognize
you by your hair, and that tan looks awfully like it came out of TV
talent makeup kit that your mate Plowie obtained for you...

OK. Fair cop, guv. It's me!
My hair is my own, but one has to make small sacrifices, and it
will grow back. And who knows, maybe I will get into the cast
of the remake of The King And I.

Look at the pic (amazing what one can see from a satelite!)
I am on the left, carrying a Burmese Army trekking stick
(the one designed by the legendary Sir Jeffrey Hillpig-Smythe)
*I find the stick useful for persuading to generosity
tight-fisted tourists otherwise unwilling to put a coin or two into
the monks' bowl. *The new design of teak bowl will have a slot
in the bottom to accomodate Visa/MasterCard/American Express.
You cannot see it in the picture, but I have a cord around my
right wrist put there by the Buddhist abbott at Chiang Rai, to
bring me everlasting fullfilment. It cost me 20 Euros.

Iain

Thanks for that! Years I start with laughter always go better.

Andre Jute
LOL