On Dec 9, 2009, at 9:27 PM, dredmond at efn.org wrote:
>
>> Not just snobbery but stupid arrogant snobbery. The only permissible
>> objective, historical, criteria to evaluate music are the
>> judgments of
>> performing musicians and musically literate audiences, to be
>> confirmed (or
>> rediscovered) a minimum of two generations after the death of the
>> composer. The music of Sibelius, by those standards, stands up
>> very well.
>> But Adorno's?
>
> Irrelevant. Much of Sibelius *is* kitschy.
Subjective reactions and their consequent judgments cannot be argued with. Undefined terms ("kitchy"), however, render such judgments suspect. Nevertheless, I'm glad to see the admission that at least the "non- kitchy" works of Sibelius--contra Adorno--deserve to survive.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos