[Harp-L] Re: Entertainment and "dressed like a musician"

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Orrps,

at first, I hadn´t planned a post but when Harpie (my contribution for 
entertaining)
pointed to the subject "Dressing like a musician" I couldn´t resist.

Vern wrote:

< First, not one in 100 knows the difference between a diatonic and chromatic 

< harmonica or that a chromatic normally has a button. >

Absolutely. The next one who asked me for that strange knob I occasionally
push in I´ll answer with a question: What do you think is the hell installed 
for?  
Hmmmh, I dunno. I´ll tell you, it´s installed for people who ask such 
questions 
like you.

Hey, Harpie, you have a question? No, Dad, not just a question but concerning
the vocal which a well entertaining band should have by all means, one 
listler
wrote that the audience like vocals in a concert because the human voice was
the first "musical instrument". Hmmh, I think more likely than their voices 
the first
humans "enjoyed" the noises they produced with their digestive system.

Harpie, it´s not the time to make jokes about the serious issue whether a
good musical performance should also be entertaining, respectively, does
entertaining make a musical performance not until now a good one? 

Yes and no. The classical concert audience mostly has heard the music often
enough. So, it´s more interested to hear how this or that orchestra, musician 

or conductor will perform Mozart´s "Magic Flute" this time. The audience is
focussed on nothing else than on the music, simply spoken.

However, let´s  imagine the following situation: Maestro Ashkenazy is 
sitting before his classical grand just performing a very complicated 
fingering.
Suddenly, his classical grand breaks apart, leaving Askenazy alone on his 
chair and falls against the conductor´s platform who thrashes his arms 
around not to lose the balance. The next sitting violines immediately stop
but the more distant musicians, drowned out from the above hammering
percussionists, continued some bars and then came to an end with a 
dissonance. With other words: The entertaining effect is perfect and the 
audience´s only problem is to wonder how it was managed that the piano 
could break apart just in time. 

But "seriously" now. A good musician has his grateful audience, however, if
he´s able to serve his artistic skill with some "humorous spice" or 
entertaining
sidesteps will have a delighted audience.

One of the actual slogans is: enjoy, have fun ect. In Germany we speak of
the "Spassgesellschaft" (fun society). Indeed, the majority demands to have
fun by all means and not at last artists have to consider that, specially, 
the
professionals. 
  
Apropos, entertaining. There´s one performance which shows the perfect
mixture of good music and entertaining and that´s Danny Kaye´s conducting
of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for the benefit of the orchestra in
1982 if a remember right. 

After Zubin Meta´s opening Dany took over the baton and conducted the 
amused orchestra for 2 hours without a score!! and the delighted audience 
too.
His starting gag showed the direction when Danny entered the stage with
some 20 batons among which he had problems to find the proper one.
I´m very grateful to have this video I enjoy again and again.

The problem to be dressed like a musician is new for harp-L and Harpie and 
me read the comments about this subject with interest. Harpie, you may take
over. 

Thank you, Dad. Well, I often heard that certain profs can be recognized by
their outfits. So, a cook is one who prepares meals and his "uniform" is
unmistakable. But his outfit has nothing to do with his profession or 
cooking result. The soup may be spoiled or his steaks are good to serve 
as shoe soles but he remains still a cook. OTOH, the "boss" of the
family doesn´t become automatically a cook when he prepares one of his 
well-known delicious party dishes.

Same goes for musicians. One who has studied music is generally
considered a musician whether he makes good or bad music later on. 
However, people who don´t know the difference between a diatonic 
and a chromatic also have no clear picture what a musician is with 
the exception of harp players. That´s understandable when even some 
phiharmonikers hesitate to consider harps real musical instruments.

In Germany people have yet another curious way of judgement. When they
hear a person playing any musical instrument they say "er ist musikalisch"
"to be musical). This judgement can even be enhanced, so, a person is then
"sehr musikalisch" (very musical).

OTOH, there are many people having not studied music who can compete
with lots of studied sound artists, the professionals included.

But the top of all is the question how the dressing makes musicians 
distinguishable from others. Let´s only imagine a studied musician played
in "emperors´ clothes" on stage. He would surely arrested to be an 
exhibitionist but remains a musician still. 

The German saying "Kleider machen Leute" (people are made by clothing) is
as ambiguous as many other formulations and not worth to be discussed on
harp-L.

Let´s enjoy our harps, whether in clothes or not.

Siegfried