[lbo-talk] Just wondering...

Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
Wed Mar 30 10:03:11 PDT 2011


On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:34:52 -0500 "Carrol Cox" <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:


> Actually, music is not
> even needed for dance -- drums will do

Don't try telling a drummer that he's not a musician. They're short-tempered and prone to violence.


> The potential of music could never be realized until it had been
> freed from dance.

Wow. This is robust, big-picture, grand-narrative stuff.

When exactly did music's liberation from dance occur? A quick flip through HAM suggests that dance-y music has coexisted alongside not-so-dancey music for a couple of millennia now, at least. And music you can dance to still seems to be in little danger of extinction. A degraded taste?

Does Josquin realize the "potential of music" more than Buxtehude? Titelouze more than Lully? The KdF more than the French Suites?

And "potential of music" -- what a concept. Who's to say what the "potential of music" is, until it's actual?

-- --

Michael J. Smith mjs at smithbowen.net

http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://www.cars-suck.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com



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