Re: [Harp-L] FW: Christelle's Summertime - A Question

["Alfred Barten" <vr1139@xxxxxxxxx>]

To try to interpret a piece of music to encompass what the composer had in
mind is, of course, valid. I believe it is also valid to try to transform
the composition to something else. Going back in history - according to the
choral director I used to sing for - Martin Luther asked why the Devil
should have all the good songs and allowed as to how popular music could be
transformed to religious music (not that the two are necessarily mutually
exclusive in any given instance) and Bach, a Lutheran, had no qualms about
using popular themes in his chorales. Transformations of any kind are valid
as far as I'm concerned. The more the merrier. Coltrane's "Favorite Things"
is a far cry from its origin in The Sound of Music, but it's a classic in
its own right.

-- Barts

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 4:02 PM, <bkumpe@xxxxxxx> wrote:

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>  _____
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> From: Bill Kumpe [mailto:okbizlaw@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 6:00 AM
> To: 'harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx'
> Subject: Christelle's Summertime - A Question
>
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> There is no question that Christelle has an incredible gift.  And, there is
> no question that her version of "Summertime" was a remarkable performance.
> Not to my taste, but truly remarkable.  The best way I could summarize my
> opinion would be to say that her interpretation of the Gershwin classic was
> a lot more about her as a performer than the music.  "Summertime" was
> written as light opera, sultry, slow, southern, dripping with a sense of
> time and place.  Many interpretations of summertime, and not just
> Christelle's, take it out the bayou and transplant it to Manhattan or
> Vegas.
> But, does the performer owe the composer a duty to respect his intent for
> his music?  Is any consideration due the sound the composer had in his head
> when wrote the song?
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> Bill Kumpe (2)
>
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-- 
Alfred Barten