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Re: GG -the quality of ecstasy



From: Elmer Elevator <bobmer@JAVANET.COM>
Reply-To: Elmer Elevator <bobmer@JAVANET.COM>
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: Re: Fwd: GG -the quality of ecstasy
BOB WROTE:

A doctor once told a friend of mine that if she had to be smitten with an emotional illness, depression was a fortunate choice. It is, he said, an illness highly responsive to sunny Spring weather and flowers, an hour with good friends, a swell meal ... and, this thread reminds us, lovely music.

Was it on this list recently that I read that the association of the minor
key
with sadness is a very recent, 19th-century historical development? Our
emotions
are now so habituated to making this association. Which composer/s is/are
the
leading culprit/s? Is there, nonetheless, a built-in universal human
response of
sadness to the minor key? What are earlier counterexamples -- minor key
music
expressing joy, triumph? Can modern ears still recognize the original
emotional
intention?

Bob Merkin


Well, I cant answer all your questions but I would like to mention that, for me, the Allegretto of Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata (is it D minor?) doesnt sound sad...at least, as played by GG. Full of tumultuous emotion perhaps...but positive. Not sad. Kate ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com