Re: good intentions

[lance glover <baumhaus@earthlink.net>]

Robert Eberwein wrote:

> But did I compose this song? I think not. The notes were there, and you 
>can
> hear *Help Me Rhonda* if you want- - - but *creation* would involve me
> choosing some of the timing or gongs. There would have had to have been 
>SOME
> *intention*. This is Not a definition of what a *music* is- it’s a
> definition of what *creating music* is. Like the Gray/Black/White thing; 
>it
> would be easy to think that I am saying that *Help Me Rhonda* doesn’t 
>exist.
> No.
>
> But maybe it does mean *Funky Cold Medina* doesn’t exist.
>
> Also, all this says nothing about a humpbacks intentions. Their songs
> undoubtedly exist.
>

one final thought from me on this stuff (for now :-)

one thing i was pondering after robert's recent post "using lance (me) as 
an
example" of someone who no longer sees black & white but only shades of 
grey
(which i infer to be a statement that this is a development in human 
culture
which has seen its time & we need to get to a place of seeing things in
clearer, i.e. more dualistic terms- correct me if i'm inaccurate in 
that...);
doesn't the history of western music show that human discovery & expression
goes through cycles (looping content noted) of seeing things simply and 
clearly
FOLLOWED by seeing the range of possibilities in, around and OUTSIDE of 
those
canonical ideas? didn't the concept of western harmony evolve into 
something
very definite, with clear rules and parameters, yet not last too awfully 
long
in that pure state before composers began stretching the boundaries and
breaking the rules of the game, because it had become more *interesting* 
that
way?

it seems, (forgive my generalization) that, at least for western 
(northern?)
civilization, we've been in a period of intense rule-breaking for quite 
some
time (place your historical markers where you may), and that some of us now
believe that we need to get back to a clear system of values...i watched 
the
PBS jazz thing last night and noted that there was a lot of disagreement 
about
ornette coleman's free jazz ideas. i noticed they didn't even ASK the 
marsalis
contingent to comment :-)...the pain of feeling like everything's going to 
shit
because no one wants to "play by the rules" is very real, and i don't 
begrudge
anyone their own true expression of that. i just know personally that i'm 
in a
different place...

lance g.