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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's Bête Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com

Monday, December 06, 2004

NEWS FROM BLOGVILLE: THE CLASSICAL ELITIST VERSUS THE CLASSICAL POPULISTS

Kyle Gann, though he doesn't appear judgmental about people acting differently, believes in using his critical soapbox to promote classical music and nothing but -- specifically in his case what he calls "PostClassic," contemporary classical music.  AC Douglas agrees that classical critics should use their space to promote classical and nothing but, except in ACD's case he wants it limited to pre-PostClassic classical, since he loathes the stuff Kyle discusses.  Alex Ross and Helen Radice think classical critics should follow their muse. I admire Kyle and ACD’s singleness of focus, and I share Alex and Helen’s hope that the pop criticism of classical critics may attract new readers and listeners to classical.

While I'm sympathetic to other parts of his argument (though not his dismissal of contemporary classical), this contention of ACD’s is nonsensical: that classical is “music's very apotheosis; the one instantiation of music that alone is capable of subsuming and transfiguring all of music's other instantiations.”  ACD defensively continues: “That's not a classical music fanatic's wild-eyed rant, nor is it the rant of a cultural snob. It's a demonstrable, objective fact. “

I honor ACD’s love for the music he loves. I invite him to try to demonstrate the truth of his so-called demonstrable fact.

Comments:
"AC Douglas agrees that classical critics should use their space to promote classical and nothing but, except in ACD's case he wants it limited to pre-PostClassic classical, since he loathes the stuff Kyle discusses."
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Excuse me? Where in the posts in question did you see me write that I want classical music criticism "limited to pre-PostClassic classical"?

You need to read with your prejudices under better control.

ACD
 
ACD, your reference to my "prejudices" is amusing, given that in a previous post you have called minimalism and its descendants "anti-music," which is what I had based my "prejudiced" assumption about your interests on.

Here is another prejudice. I had expected you to respond to my invitation to demonstrate the "demonstrable fact" of classical music's ability to subsume all other music with some off-point criticism of some minor, arguable point in my post. You have met my expectation.
 
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