Bernard Chasan replies to me:
>>But that's simply a variation on knowing the composer. Now you know the
>>time period, and for you, that knowledge affects the worth of the piece.
>>Implied in this, I think, is the assumption that an "imitation" is less
>>worthy than "the real thing." In many cases, it probably is. After all,
>>how many composers are as good as Haydn? However, I can imagine a musician
>>on the order of Elliott Carter or Carlos Chavez writing such a piece
>>firmly in the Haydn-Mozart style and quite as good as most pieces by those
>>composers.
>
>I believe that it CAN be done. My argument is that it should NOT be done.
>And furthermore, I cannot imagine that a composer of stature would do such
>a thing without commenting on the work in his own voice. WHy in the world
>would he want to?
Why should he avoid it? You're assuming that one comes up with something
inauthentic perforce. Now, I grant that I don't really know what
"authentic" or "inauthentic" means. I can, however, say that I've heard
pieces written by composers still alive or recently dead using idioms
current before they were born, and those works seemed pretty good to me -
at least as good or nearly as good as what they were imitating. I'm still
not clear on the ethical point that worries you. After all, no one is
stealing previous work. They're simply trading one set of compositional
restrictions for another.
>Another words it would be Mozart filtered through Carter.
Let me cite two examples: Samuel Wesley's motet "In exitu Israel,"
written during the classical era which tries its damndest to use the
choral style of Bach. It's a great motet. It may not be as fine as the
Bach set, but it isn't halvah, either. There is no hint of Wesley's usual
early-to-middle Haydn idiom. Same with Chavez's Piano Sonata No. 6, which
sounds like the Haydn piano sonatas. If nobody told you, you'd probably
think Haydn composed it. There's no attempt to change one's personal style
(and Chavez definitely had one), as with (say) Stravinsky and Pergolesi,
but to assume the style of someone else.
Steve Schwartz
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