Fwd: [Harp-L] cutting contests

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

> On Jul 29, 2007, at 12:27 AM, Glenn Weiser wrote:
>
> > I don't think musical competitions are a bad idea categorically,  
> > but playing music with a motive of competitiveness usually is.  
> > There are fiddle contests in many states, and in Winfield Kansas,  
> > there are annual contests for both fingerstyle and flatpicking  
> > guitar.
> >    There is long history of such contests, too. Regrading Handel  
> > and Scarlatti, there is this quote, "After all, live competition  
> > was a crucial part of musical life of the [Baroque] period. It was  
> > in 1708 or 1709 that Handel and Scarlatti, then in their early  
> > twenties, were involved in a celebrated keyboard contest in Rome.  
> > According to the surviving (and not always reliable) account,  
> > Handel was declared to be superior on the organ, while Scarlatti  
> > matched or perhaps even surpassed Handel's skill at the  
> > harpsichord. Scarlatti is said to have realized the musical  
> > possibilities of the organ only after hearing Handel play;  
> > regardless of the reliability of such a statement, it certainly  
> > confirms Scarlatti's love for the instrument. In any case, the two  
> > became good friends and Scarlatti followed Handel throughout Italy  
> > in order to listen to him and learn from his mastery of the organ."
> >    Maybe it could be just plain fun if the contestants don't stake  
> > all their pride on it.
> >    Somthing to think about.
> >
> > Glenn Weiser
>
> This is ironic. I follow P.T. Gazell around just to hear his  
> mastery on the valved diatonic
> smo-joe