jeffw@tekecs.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (07/15/85)
I see there's a big argument going on about whether Bach or Kate Bush is the greatest composer ever. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because they both have names that begin B and end h and have four letters. Hmph. Personally, I would have thought Beethoven, or maybe Debussy... Speaking of Debussy and what composers would think of the music written after them, here is an excerpt from a book (mostly written originally for newspaper columns) by Debussy, "Monsieur Croche, dilettante-hater": [Some general words about a large number of German conductors concertizing in Paris.] "...we shall have the usual demonstrations of the different methods of conducting Beethoven's symphonies. Some of them hurry the symphonies, others drag them; and the greatest sufferer will be poor old Beethoven. Pompous well-informed persons will declare that such and such a conductor has the secret of the true tempo; anyhow, it makes an excellent subject of conversation. How do these people come to be so sure? Have they received word from the Beyond? That would be a courtesy from the other world that would surprise me very much in Beethoven. If his unhappy spirit occasionally wanders into a concert room, surely it returns hurriedly to the realms where only the music of the spheres is heard! His noble ancestor, Bach, must say to him with some severity: `My little Ludwig, I see by your somewhat rumpled soul that you have again been in disreputable places.' But perhaps they are not on speaking terms." Also, there was a story in Playboy a few years back in which Pergolesi, a composer and hell-raiser of the early 18th century who burned his candle at both ends and avoided lasting 30 years, if not the night, is brought back to life sometime in the future. For the first few weeks, he sets about completing stuff he left at his death. Then he discovers Beethoven, and has a go at writing in that style. Then somebody sneaks him into a den of the latest stuff (Rosen's grandson is there, too). He winds up composing nothing but that, hopping up on about six different drugs at once, and dying again within six months. Some things change, some things don't. Jeff Winslow "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we reach into the basket, pull out just one of these little slips of paper, aaaaaand the greatest composer in the world is... ARNOLD SCHOENBERG !!!!!" "Oh god, wouldn't you know it!" - rlr "[560 lines explaining why Kate Bush is better than Schoenberg]" - nessus "[559 lines explaining why Jeff Winslow is an utter boob]" - nessus "clone" "I'm NOT LISTENING, you wanks!!!!" - davidl