tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201118595222755418.post2003107538511009275..comments2024-03-29T05:13:45.124-04:00Comments on Seated Ovation: disobeyWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00001122423953519326noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201118595222755418.post-38358743597008393042011-11-18T00:39:11.467-05:002011-11-18T00:39:11.467-05:00Q2, yes. 'QXR itself, really?Q2, yes. 'QXR itself, really?Andrew Patnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13596559532572404428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201118595222755418.post-28649576078964717512011-11-11T06:00:34.073-05:002011-11-11T06:00:34.073-05:00Back when the 'new musicology' was still q...Back when the 'new musicology' was still quite new, I was given an undergrad course to teach entitled 'Beethoven and his Influence'. My first instinct was that it was something of a reductive way to approach C19th music, but as it turned out, it also became quite a good vehicle to investigate the cliches of music history and where they come from.<br /><br />I have similarly mixed feelings about using Beethoven as the archetype of classical music here: it is reductive, and it does tend to subsume all other classical music into the symbol of Beethoven in a kind of synecdochal elision. But it's hard to criticise it as a popularising strategy given how musicologists also cluster around him, everyone wanting to assert their views of the great man, thus getting their bit of vicarious greatness.<br /><br />Heck, even the folk who wanted to critique the cultural hegemony of the classical canon ended up writing about Beethoven. We might want to be counter-cultural, but we need to show we're as insightful as the next music theorist (rueful grimace).<br /><br />On the bright side, even while the cultural politics can drive you batty, it is fantastic stuff to listen to.liz garnetthttp://www.helpingyouharmonise.comnoreply@blogger.com