source file: mills2.txt
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 22:20:24 -0800

Subject: Re: more Bach

From: Gary Morrison <71670.2576@compuserve.com>

Neil's assessment that there is sadly little xenharmonic music out there of
the calibre of the great masters, reminds me of a celebrated event in Mozart's
life:  Early in Mozart's career, F.J. Haydn told Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang's
father), "I tell you that man is the greatest composer I know".  I'm reminded of
that because it was a case of two highly accomplished composers accepting that
they've been beat.  

   So one composer to another, I'm inclided to tell Neil that I have to agree
with his assessment - implicitly leaving both Neil's and my music out of that
league.  

   But I think it's also important to out that there's very little 12TET music
out there of that calibre either!  And a lot of the music that doesn't live up
to that sort of standard, is still worth listening to.  Louis Spohr's music
strikes me personally as being in that category - it's not up to the standards
of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or Brahms, but still it's good music.  

   And I enjoy listening to Neil's CD too.  It's certainly not at Bach's level
of genius, but it's lots of fun, and I think a very respectable accomplishment.


   And that brings me to a CD of wind serenades by Antonio Salieri.  Salieri,
even before the famous movie Amadeus, has been widely cited as a "bad" composer.
I have to disagree.  When I listen to it, I hear only a little that's just plain
bad.  As for the rest of it, it isn't so much that it's bad as much as that
there's not much about it that's particularly good.  It's just kind of "there".


   But I've come to the conclusion that even the great masters have their
all-out bad moments too!  Some of Beethoven's endings consist of little more
than banging out a simple progression of primary triads over and over and over.
At the end of his Eroica - perhaps one of the single most pivotal compositions
in the history of Western music, I sometimes find myself wanting to yell out,
"alright alright, just end it a'ready!".  

   So, to composers I say:  Take heart, keep the perspective as Neil said, and
keep working for improvement.  If something comes out effortlessly, ask why.  It
either means inspiration or lack of care.  Listen to your own music as if you
knew nothing about it, and try to follow the flow of intrigue through the music.
IS there one (or more), or is the music just sorta "there"?  Or rambling?  And
if there is a coherent line of intrigue, then does that line itself do something
intriguing?  

   And remember that even the great masters have SOME low points!  


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