The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #138735 Message #3181214
Posted By: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
04-Jul-11 - 10:35 AM
Thread Name: Do purists really exist?
Subject: RE: Do purists really exist?
When you can point me towards feral versions of Chopin Etudes co-existing happily and unselfconsciously
What I can point you to is the fact that no two readings of Chopin are ever going to be exact and to the fact that each interpration is part of any number of traditions that have developed over the years be it in concert halls, academies, universities and record labels. The parameters (in the Folk Terms you mention) might not be so blantantly simplistic, but are still pretty feral when you get down to the details. You can see that much on Young musican of the Year.
then 'remarkable' is exactly the word that comes into my head.
I get the same vibe contrasting readings of Purcell Sonatas or Back Door performances, or classic Soft Machine bootlegs, or Hip-Hop mixes and remixes and samplings etc etc. I'd say it was par for the course myself, born from the simple fact that nothing can ever happen the same way twice - scored, oral or otherwise. Also - I've never seen two oak trees that were alike, much less two human beings; or even two grains of sand. If we look closely enough then all is uniqueness. It is for sure, a glorious thing, but hardly in any way, shape or form remarkable. Thing is, Folkies get exited over collected specimens - examples of taxidermy isolated from any context rather than things still living in their natural habitat. It's like a biologist trying to deduce the behaviour of the Dodo by examining imperfectly stuffed specimens in the back room of a museum. Even with recordings we're dealing with mere glimpses of the thing.
And, as for Folk Religion, see the recent Steamfolk thread which openly muses on a recent epiphany...