Pablo Massa:

>>Art develops, just like history, through and by the guiding force of its
>>own internal 'spirit,' if you will (to speak in Hegelian language, which
>>seems fitting here).
>
>Yes, perhaps it was so.  However, all we have are facts, and we can see
>them from the side of Robespierre or from the side of Louis Capet.  Guess
>in which side am I.

I disagree with both Edward Moore, the writer of the first paragraph, and
with Mr.  Massa.  History doesn't "develop." History happens.

>>And on what grounds are you accusing Stockhausen of being an "artistic
>>impostor"? Those are heavy words.
>
>They are indeed, and I didn't write them by chance.  But, you see,
>Stokie has been involved in almost every major musical fraud committed
>since the second half of XX century: integral serialism, aleatory music,
>electroacoustic music.

I fail to see why these are frauds.  That is, that what they purport to
be is not what they are.  I don't know what they purport to be.  Again, I
find some works in these styles to be very beautiful.  I'd hate to think
I'm a gullible victim, particularly when I enjoy them so much.  So far,
all you've really said is that you don't like them.  Why raise your
personal tastes to a universal aesthetic principle?

>He drove himself as fast as he could between those currents --he always
>wanted to be "a la page"-- and in all of them he left his mark ("Stokie
>was here") under the shape of awful--or in the best case, boring-- works.
>On the other hand, he wrote hundreds of pages in which he explains us
>convincingly why does his works are so charmless.  I remember even that
>in an interview from the 60's (reproduced in a supposedly serious small
>history of contemporary music) he said something like this:  "often I feel
>that I'm a sort of messenger of alien creatures from other worlds, who are
>in connection with me and ordered me to give new kinds of music to
>mankind".  Enough?.

Irrelevant.  Nothing anybody says about a work will make it better or
worse.  The only thing that counts is the work itself.  Since we obviously
disagree on the enjoyment to be derived from Stockhausen's music, I think
the matter ends here.

Steve Schwartz