There's been some posting about the motivation of anti-hip folks who attack
the foundations of the HIP movement.  I've given this some thought and
here's my conclusions:

1.  The initial reaction is fear of the unknown and fear of loss of control
and stabilty.

2.  Fear leads to hostility.

3.  Hostility leads to aggressiveness through the strong desire to debunk
what is unfamiliar and the persons holding those views.

4.  The debunking, at its most insipid, leads to silly comments and
projections and devious questions, many of them voiced on this list.  At its
worst, the debunking and lack of respect leads to a friction within the
classical music community, one which this small community can hardly afford.

This reminds me of the hostility toward "modernist" music held by many
listeners: it's alien, unmusical, and a threat.  Those who like it are given
no respect of their postion and are considered to not even really like the
music.

I really don't know what the answer might be to any of this.  Perhaps one
day these negative types will see the light (preferences remain the same,
but respect for the other postion increases), but I'm not holding my breath
in anticipation.  It's just rather sad.  As Mimi mentioned, there's plenty
of room for *all* perferences and views, but there are many holdouts who
don't agree.

Don Vroon, of ARG fame, even identifies the HIP movement as a fad. But, I
have noticed that ARG reviews many HIP recordings, and increasingly, the
reviewers are not hostile to HIP.  It's become relatively mainstream as it
is now the prevalent style for early and baroque music, shares center stage
with modern instrument performances of classical and early-romanic era
repertoire, and has even entered the romantic and late-romantic world.  You
can look at it as an insidious virus which is infecting everything, like or
prefer it, or personally reject it while respecting it as a form which is
loved by many others.  Your choice, but don't delude yourself into thinking
that the first one has much worthiness going for it.  That choice does not
represent the best within us.

Don Satz
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