John Smyth wrote:
>
>Donald Satz to Robert Palmer:
>
>>....I emphatically am against using taxpayer funding for anything musical.
>
>This is just a fun observation, but considering that some of our most
>beloved composers from the Baroque and Classical era relied upon church
>and royalty for their bread and butter, I wonder what would have happened
>to the quality and quantity of these composers' outputs without such
>sponsorship?
I'm not unsympathetic to some of Don's views on this, mainly because I
would never care to vote my own tax funds to building a professional sports
stadium, for example, when the players are all millionaires as it is. It
sort of depends on who's enthusiasm or passion is getting the subsidy.
Of course, if NO tax money is to be used for anything musical, there goes
the band/orchestra program I had in public school! And should my tax
funding pay the police to provide some measure of security at a rock
concert? Or just let the private bouncers do it? (Isaac Stern should have
had THIS problem!)
Now as someone who has been a subscriber to this List almost since it
began in 1994 (has it been THAT long, Dave?!), even in those early months
I recall a thread that referred to politicians who felt tax-funded arts
allowed them to dictate what art could be done as "baboons". Given the
choice of interfering political poseurs and the sort of artistic Darwinism
Don prefers, I'm not sure the latter isn't the lesser of two disasters.
That said, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to get duded up for a concert at
the "Daimler-Chrysler Symphony Hall", to listen to a performance by the
"AT&T National Symphony", with all the players adorned with sponsor decals
on their tuxes, long dresses and instruments ala NASCAR...... Playing such
masterworks as the "Coca-Cola Beethoven 5th" (yes, they bid for the rights,
in America anything is possible with enough lobbying money paid), and a
special performance of the Pachelbel-TacoBell(TM) Canon......
>And I wonder who is more hands off, current gov't or 16th-Century royalty
>and church. I guess it all depends, though what if Bach's muse was only
>inspired by pagan ritual?
Isn't that what happened with the "Coffee Cantata"?:-) My vote, as always,
goes to the human spirit against the current dogma of whatever group is
running things at the moment....
Bill H.
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