GG: Great Musical Analogy from a Fantasy Novel

["Anne M. Marble" <amarble@sff.net>]

In a fantasy novel by Mercedes Lackey (of all things), I
found a great analogy that made me think of some of the
discussions in this group.

In this novel, there are Bards blessed with "the Gift," a
magical talent that makes them feel others what they want
them to feel with their music. Yet people still like to hear
performances by both Bards who don't have the Gift and by
minstrels.

Why is this? Because, as one character explains it, "There
are Times when the Gift gets in the way of the music."

What a wonderful analogy about the different types of
musicians! As soon as I read that passage, I thought of
some of the discussions on this group. Particularly the
discussions about how some people don't like listening to
later Glenn Gould recordings because they're hearing "Glenn
Gould's Bach" rather than "Bach played by Glenn Gould."

Any thoughts? Do you think this analogy works? Can you think
of other analogies from other novelists (fantasy or
otherwise)?

By the way this author has also written a fantasy series
called the Free Bards series, about a world where a "Bardic
Guild" rules the world of music, and under their hands,
music becomes flavorless because it must conform to their
rules. It is up to the Free Bards to save music. I think
some of Glenn Gould's critics belonged to the Bardic
Guild. :->

The author who wrote this, Mercedes Lackey, has written
music. (Particularly filk songs -- those are songs that are
sung at science fiction & fantasy conventions.) But even if
I hadn't known that, from her writings, I would have
suspected that she knew the world of music intimately.


Anne M. Marble
amarble@sff.net