Stacking Fourths notwithstanding, this whole business amounts to a pedantic savaging reminiscent of another perpreted by the saintly Mr Firth on one of Mudcat's oft-derided (and now, sadly, erstwhile) members. In a pragmatic sense what GfS makes perfect sense, though I don't know enough of Bach's music to say if he used it or not. He's refering to Quartal Voicings more typical of Jazz, though it would surprise me to find them employed elsewhere - even in Folk. Indeed, there are examples hinted at in medieval secular music which survive in Traditional Karadeniz Kemence music and Turkey (and Pontic Lyra music of Greece) which are based around fourths rather that fifths or thirds. It sounds strange to Western Ears, but if you start stacking up Perfect Fifths & Thirds in such a way then that sounds strange too, all the more so in an otherwise monophonic / modal context, such as the early polyphony of the medieval church (Organum), which was seemingly quite different from what Leonin and Perotin were up to at Notre Dame. Anyway, erudition notwithstanding, it's the pedantic pomposity of these attacks (and of those who cluster around like sheep) that most offends the come-all-ye Mudcat ethos which is meant to be a friendly & understanding sort of place.

I can't recall the when or the where of the orginal attack, but it came about when said Erstwhile 'Catter said Could Of instead of the more gramatically correct Could Have. On that occasion Mr Firth referred to that noxious arch-pedant and anti-linguist Lynne Truss as being delightful. What place Pedantry in folk or folklore? Much less in the constantly evolving world of language? The desperate may cling to correctness as a buoy in the rising tides of ever increasing inventiveness consequent on the living dymanic of folk & feral intercourse, but the true lover of Folk will sit back and marvel at the ingenuity of it all.

And it's got feck all to do with Humpty Dumpty either - as those in the UK will know if they've been watching the truly delightful Stephen Fry on his Sunday night programme on BBC2 (Fry's Planet Word, 9pm). Hopefully American viewers will get it before much longer.

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[come inside my parenthesis of hypocritical shame: Earlier on in this same thread I made a similar corrective post regarding Medieval Pagan Imagery; my excuse was it was first thing on a Saturday (or was in Sunday?) morning after a particularly rough night, and no man is without his passions and the desire to share them. I hope I didn't come across as too corrective on that occasion - my sincere & cringing apologies if did.]