From: Tom Baehr <tombaehr@xxxxxxxxxxx> Date: August 10, 2007 12:35:20 PM EDT To: Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp in bluegrass (Ralph Stanley)
Richard,
So well put. Sax has been incorporated in symphony orchestras from time to time. Harmonica, while not treated as an orchestral instrument, has fronted many orchestras as the solo instrument.
Transcriptions, transpositions, have been the norm rather than the exception going back centuries, sometimes by the composers themselves; sometimes by others with the composer's blessing, sometimes without.
The truly great masterworks do not suffer from transcription or transposing. IMO, Bach, done well, fits most instruments. Gould knew this, as did Bach himself, who borrowed from his own works. We can put harmonica into any genre and any era, and have it sound idiomatic to the music, done with judgment and good taste.
Tom On Aug 10, 2007, at 11:45 AM, Richard Hunter wrote:
"Rick Dempster" wrote: <from where I stand BG is one of the most musically <conservative areas.
No argument from me. Every genre has its stylistic conservatives, and harp fits in relatively few conservative definitions of traditional styles--just like saxophone, which dates from roughly the same era and geography as harmonica. Once you start with the idea that it's got to sound like it did on the first recording of the style ever made, harp doesn't make it, unless you're talking about folk or blues. (Just as sax doesn't make it unless you're talking about jazz/rock/R&B--ever seen a bluegrass alto saxophone player? Ever seen two?)
I understand that some people just love a particular style as it sounded when it was new (even if was new 300-400 years ago). There are lots of classical types who say you can't really play Bach on a piano, because the music was written for earlier instruments like the harpsichord. You would have thought Glenn Gould put that one away with his piano recordings of the Goldberg Variations. But no.
And beyond loving the style, some people approach music as a familiar comfort, not an adventure. They don't WANT it to change. They want it to be what it always was. Maybe it's the only thing in their world that they can count on not to change. And they react with great hostility to anyone who might make it different.
I try to stay away from people like that, because in general I think they've got it all wrong, and most of them aren't going to change their minds anyway. And I really don't need them to reach an audience. I can certainly find an audience that wants to hear what I do, if what I do is conceived and executed well enough to be worth hearing. I don't need to go to every party in town to find a party where I can hang out.
Regards, Richard Hunter hunterharp.com blogs at myspace.com/richardhunterharp Latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter
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