-----Original Message-----
From: Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Dec 6, 2003 2:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Ives at first writing
Mark, I think we're actually talking about two very different things,
and rather confusedly: firstly the question of what happens when a
composer sets a text to music, and secondly, what is the difference
and possible crossover between the processes of composing music or
writing a poem. Setting words to music is one thing, and an
interesting question, but in what I was attempting, however murkily,
to explore it's an issue which fudges the question really. The
question was whether it is possible to use musical structures in
poetry with any real degree of accuracy, and my doubt whether it is.
I was saying the similarities always end up being metaphorical,
because to my mind music and poetry are crucially different
processes. Composers never have to think about, or reject, the
"meanings" of the notes they use; musical notes or sounds do not have
semantic meanings. Poets always do, even if they decide to emphasise
the sonic qualities of the language to the extent that the meanings
and syntax begin to disintegrate. I think this makes a great deal
of difference in approaching the different arts, it is for example
why there is that truism that all arts aspire to the state of music,
because it can attain a kind of purity, unlike words, which are
always embedded in the tangles of their every day meanings, the mess
and murk of their usages. And then there's that whole debate - can
music truly be moral? or is it just a fantasy in the ear of the
listener? (all those debates about Schostakovitch, for instance).
Can you assign an ideology to a musical structure, if there are no
words in it?
Best
A
--
Alison Croggon
Blog
http://alisoncroggon.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead
http://au.geocities.com/masthead_2/
Home page
http://www.users.bigpond.com/acroggon/
That clears it up nicely, and of course I agree. Thanks.
Mark
|