Wes Crone <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>>I strongly suggest you keep at it, perhaps with a different recording, and
>>perhaps even with the music...they make great finger exercises if you play
>>the piano!
>
>I'm sorry but this statement, although just a snippet of your posting,
>made me sick to my stomach.  Bach verbally reduced to mere pianistic
>exercise. ...
>
>Bach is far and above that status.......and in my mind...is WAY FAR AND
>ABOVE the status of ANY composer whose works would be played after a brisk
>Bachian warmup!

Alright, that does it...I have been lurking and posting to this list for
perhaps nine months now, sticking mostly to uncontroversial topics.  In the
cases in which I have tried to present an opinion on some thorny issue, I
have tried to do so in a reasonably civil manner.  I do not view this list
as a forum in which one must vanquish one's ideological enemies:  it seems
to me to be a place for polite, frank discourse.  Of course, if one posts
to lists such as these for long enough, eventually one will be the subject
of a rhetorical outburst; but I hardly expected that this post would be the
one to inspire it.

I have winced in pain from the sidelines as various people have trained
their holier-than-thou guns on others and let loose with barrages of
self-important tripe.  Often these invectives are inspired merely by an
unfortunate turn of phrase in the original posting; sometimes they come
completely out of the blue.  But one thing they all have in common is the
seizing of the moral high ground for the author and the author alone:  HE
(or she, but thankfully the women around here tend to be more civil than
the men) is the one with the divine insights into art; HE is the one who
has seen through the fog of societal opression that permeates everyone
else's brains and prevents clear thought; in a world of uncivilized and
uncouth beasts, HE is the champion of truth, justice, and the western
hemispherical way.

Have I exaggerated the matter slightly? Perhaps.  The way in which Mr.
Crone closes his e-mail, however, speaks to the contrary:

>(Defender of the Sacred Musical Burial ground.....Defiler of musical
>infidels.......David to the musical Phillistines.......perhaps..
>loud-mouthed detractor to his own cause!)

Though intended as a joke, the wry, self-deprecating comment thrown in at
the end does not convince me that the author does not believe, at least in
part, in what he's saying (and a thousand pardons, by the way, if you are
more humble than you come off).  And what was all this hubbub over? Well,
let's see.

In my haste to fire off my post before catching a bus home from work (which
I watched pull away as I arrived at the stop, thank you very much), I typed
something which, admittedly, does show a bit of irreverence toward the
image of the Old Master.  I claimed that the inventions and sinfonias make
"great finger exercises if you play the piano!" In retrospect, I wish I
hadn't phrased it exactly like that.

However, that phrase followed one that read, "Personally, I find them to be
delightful pieces as well as excellent examples of a master at the height
of his craft." Perhaps I should have been more effusive in my praise of
Bach, who, FWIW, happens to be one of my absolute favorite composers.
Maybe that would have alleviated the devastating impact of my hideously
offensive "finger exercises" comment.

I did not, as Mr.  Crone claims, render Bach "verbally reduced to
mere pianistic exercise." I did not "reduce" anything.  Saying that the
inventions make "great finger exercises" certainly doesn't capture the
immense, subtle genius underlying each piece, but it is a true statement.
Yes, the inventions DO make good exercises, regardless to -- or, rather, in
tandem with -- their musical value.  To use a slightly turgid analogy, it
would be like saying to Winston Churchill, "wow, you sure were a great
author, you won the Nobel Prize for Literature!" And being rebuked with,
"Nobel Prize?!  Good God, the man saved the entire free world and you're
talking about the Nobel Prize? What's wrong with you?" Both are valid
accomplishments.  One is greater than the other, but they both contribute
to the man's greatness and they are, in essence, inseparable.

This concludes my rant.  I apologize for such a lengthy post, but I
deemed it necessary to reply to what I felt was unfair slander.  On a
concillatory note, at least Mr.  Crone and I are in agreement about Bach's
greatness...although I do occasionally like to hear work by other composers
for the piano performed in concert, and I don't particularly care how
someone "warms up" as long as they play well when it counts.  Thanks for
your readership.

--everitt "sincerely although vainly hoping that the second-to-last
sentence doesn't provoke any vitriol from the crowd" clark
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