Lenguas

>>I've been corresponding off the list with someone about this idea (a purely academic exercise since neither of us has the time to start right now, but perhaps others will hoist the honour) and I'm afraid I am still the one who obstinately insists that even a digital-only version of an F Minor Anthology will meet with many hurdles, though not necessarily insurmountable ones. Then, Jacqueline's letter from Paris prompted consideration of yet another issue I hadn't previously thought about in the context of an anthology: language differences.

We native (or near-native) English speakers on the list generally take for granted the dominance of our tongue and it seems to me that there must be many subscribers who would prefer to contribute to an anthology in French, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Japanese, Urdu, Algonquin... perhaps even an essay on the Idea of North in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit.

While it would not be easy to conduct a list such as this one without a lingua franca, which by default is English in our case, I think it is fitting and necessary once in awhile to acknowledge the tolerance and effort sustained by those of you who speak English as a second language. May we hear from some of you on this topic? I would be interested to know if you would sometimes prefer to post something in your own language. And if there is ever to be an anthology (why not a multilingual one?), would you prefer to contribute something in a language other than English, which could then be translated into English and published in both languages? After all, even Bruno Monsaingeon and Yehudi Menuhin chose to speak French for their interviews in Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, and both men could speak impeccable English.

I earnestly hope I have not offended anyone as I do appreciate immensely the messages composed by F_Minor's non-native English speakers. Even those of you who are very fluent and possess impressive English vocabularies sometimes structure your speech in ways that suggest a direct translation from your thinking language, and very often this produces forms of _expression_ that would not come naturally to an English speaker but which nevertheless create some strikingly beautiful, even startling, juxtapositions and windows of insight, much like poetry. <<

I think she has touched a very good point. I am spanish speeking and my english is quite dificult to domesticate. So each time I sit to write my thoughts about GG or something related to it, the problem comes to mind. She is right when she opens the world of languages. I agree with her about the poetry and music effect that is caused when someone is writing or speaking a foreign lenguage and makes " good mistakes ". Eventhough , in this case, I decide to break the invisible veil of language and begin to write in spanish. Let's see what happens! Thank you Briggite.

Pregunto: ¿es la música un lenguaje? Y si lo es, ¿que tipo de lenguaje? Porque se habla permanentemente de ello sin precisar, creo yo, la particularidad. GG aprendió primeramente a distinguir las notas musicales, a nombrarlas correctamente antes que escribir. Su madre tocaba una nota al piano y Glenn debía decir que nota era. Cuando alguien quiere definir un color, por ejemplo, no hay palabras para ello, si no es por puras comparaciones. Y la manera de llegar a algo es señalando con el dedo: "Esto es rojo" Esas definiciones que Wittgenstein las nombraba como "definiciones ostensivas", (lo que no puede decirse, se muestra) creo que se acercan mucho a la música. ¿Como hablar de la música por fuera de la música?

Cuando alguien quiere decir algo de cómo toca GG cierta obra, debe recurrir a todo el conjunto del lenguaje como lo hace un sommelier cuando tiene que explicar las virtudes de un vino: (sabor a..., color a ..., redondez, etc,etc) Y siempre parece quedarse corto con ello. Hay que escucharlo y punto. El lenguaje de la música no sería apto para comunicar nada, sino que pareciera que es solo para transmitir. En la música no suceden los equívocos, ni las malinterpretaciones, ni el doble sentido. Entonces, intempestivamente pregunto : ¿Que transmite GG que lo convierte en un pianista separado de la masa de los excelentes pianistas ?

Un saludo