I ain't agin all "avant-garde" music.
I know you're not Bob. sorry if I made it
sound like that. We've even had a few brief talks
about Charles Ives. One of the things that makes Glass so popular,
and another reason that I have a soft spot for him, is that he's not
so avant that many people are turned off by him. He's different, but not
abrasive (at least to me and others that like him) and his music isn't
perplexing. anyone ever listen to some of Boulez's early
work? It's intimidating in a way that I don't think Glass's music
is. And, at least to me, it doesn't sound "ugly" either, maybe boring to
some of you, but I bet not ugly.
I have a very healthy fascination with it and have
invested quite a bit more than $14 in it. "Variations IV" was just a jive-ass
rip-off, and of innocent children at that. So says Elmer.
Okay, Elmer, you probably know this, but don't be upset
if I point out that Cage was almost certainly releasing some of those albums
in order to make people upset. Some people, like Mozart say, want to
move people with their beautiful melodies. Others like Cage want to
move you with their audacity and perhaps their democracy. "Even crowd
noise can be worth hearing, not just Beethoven and Mozart." Sounds to
get the non-musical ideas in your mind flowing. That too is part of this
movement.
I'm a huge fan of Harry Partch. That should earn me my
avant-garde music bona fides.
Hey, Elmer, you're a Gould fan. That automatically
gets you the avant club card. No discount of the Poland water
though.
Jim (who's curious if Elmer gets as mad at pop musicians as
much as he does Cage. Is pretentiousness an issue here? After all,
Ives and Partch in their way are more down to earth and "good country people"
than Cage and Glass are. Glass by the way has a BA in philosophy from
the University of Chicago, which he entered at age 15, and a graduate degree
in music from Julliard. Having a BA in philosophy myself, but the cruel
world having no use for a man with one, I'm always impressed by people that
overcome that collegiate handicap.)
Glass, like Gould, in his youth was enamored by the twelve-tone composers
and late serialists, but after studying music in Paris and working there with
Ravi Shankar he revolted against the classical avant garde music of his
day and disowned all his early compositions in that style. His
repetitive music is not only related to Indian music and eastern chants, but
also is a reaction against the extreme non-repetitiveness of
serialism.