Thanh-Tam Le wrote:

>Sorry Gentlemen, but although I have not followed the thread with all
>needed care, are you sure that John Williams himself thinks that "Real
>Music Is European Classical Music"? Isn't he criticizing a view held by
>some of his colleagues?

Yes, he is criticizing the RMIECM view, and I agree with him there.  I
also think that making music from non-Western cultures more familiar to
us provincial Westerners is a great idea.  Where I had a bone to pick with
Williams is in his suggestion that European classical music at this point
is just trying to prolong its life-span ("extend its lifescale" were his
exact words) by fishing around in minimalism, etc., which seems to me to
imply that it is only being kept alive on artificial life support, as it
were.  He also stated that "it has run out of a cultural language of its
own," and that there is something wrong with "looking for a language in
which to express yourself," which I would say every artist is doing, to the
extent that she/he is not satisfied just to keep using the language of the
past.

Adding this all up, I think he is saying (though the progression of his
thoughts here is not entirely clear) that Western classical music has used
up its natural life-span, that it is wrong to look for any new languages
in this genre of music, and (I suppose) it should just curl up and die.
Rather peculiar from a musician of Williams' stature, I would say.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]