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Joplin: Raunchier than Thou? While reading Daniel Paget's review, "From the Saloon to the Salon: Rif-kin's Genteel Joplin" [November 1980], I recalled that one of Beethoven's biographers liked to use the word "chaste" to describe his music, especially the last quartets. Mr. Paget uses words like "lascivious" and "raunchy" to describe the music of Joplin. These writers remind us that Tannhauser's curse is very much a part of our "civilization." (We should seriously think about this if we would understand what motivates, at least in part, the present-day feminist.) A wiser Wagner would have sent his fallen hero to a psychiatrist for treatment rather than to the Pope for absolution. Do we equate Joplin with Venus, whom we sneak out the back door to meet for an occasional hot time, while Beethoven represents the chaste Elsa, whom we truly love? Isn't there something in the compositions of both men that touches us, not just in a "sensual" way, not just in a "spiritual" way? Is it enough to say that "Solace" is "lascivious," i.e., not "chaste"? I am touched by this music, and the word "lascivious" wouldn't quite do to express my feelings. I'm touched in a similar way by the slow movement of Beethoven's E flat Quartet, Op. 127. Should anyone be offended if I confess that my feelings about this music are not entirely chaste? Mr. Paget cites certain facts of Joplin's personal life to support his argument that "the dominant quality must he physical excitement, if not downright raunchiness." What would he do with Brahms, of similar background and experience? Do performances of his music need more raunchiness? In that case, we should remember that Barbra Streisand ventured into classical repertoire a few years ago with some success. James A. Smith Lansing, Mich. A Maligned Mazer I think it uncalled for that a critic like Robert Marsh should go to a national magazine to attack associate conductor Henry Mazer, who is hardly known outside Chicago and whose specific talents were never at issue until Marsh brought them up ["Letters," January]. What is noteworthy about Mazer is that, outside of guest conductor Leonard Slatkin, he is the only one who consistently performs new works with the Chicago Symphony. This year he has scheduled six works, four of which are first performances by the orchestra. The lesson Chicago can offer is not that Mazer's talents might be insufficient, but that an orchestra can become too good. Because Chicago is cursed with one of the greatest orchestras in the world, concert-goers repeatedly attend what amount to open rehearsals for recording sessions. Abbado, Levine, and Solti have let us in on their Mahler cycles, and Solti and Barenboim are returning to prepare for their Bruckner recordings. When Levine did a celebrated Brahms cycle (released on RCA), Solti tried to go him one better (London Grammy Award release). Each year's programming schedule looks like a carbon copy of the season before. When critics, including Marsh, have challenged Maestro Solti to program new works, he has replied that the result would not be perfection and that people demand perfection from Solti/Chicago. "Perfection" is about all we get nowadays. But how poorly could the orchestra play Pettersson, Piston, or Koechlin? Even if it played badly, at least we'd get to hear them. The more celebrated the conductor and the finer the orchestra, the more unimaginative the programming turns out to be. One might travel to St. Louis, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City to hear what's new or not often heard in orchestral music. But in the supposed cultural centers of our nation, there is too much by way of reputation, money, and competition for anyone but an associate conductor to take a chance on programming different music. Harry White, Chicago, Ill. Used Audio Components Thank you for finally addressing the subject of used audio equipment. Sam Sutherland's fine article [December 1980] did, however, overlook the most effective way of buying, selling, and trading: "Audiomart," the monthly classified paper that is the largest marketplace in the world for used audio gear. For the subscription price of 512, the audio enthusiast also gets free personal ads all year. There are no brokerage or dealer costs, since advertisers deal directly with each other. We'll send a free sample on 6 request. At 512 we also publish an accurate price guide along with a helpful text written for the consumer rather than the dealer. Lennice F. Werth and Walter Bender, publishers Audiomart P.O. Box 223 Crewe, Va. 23930 Why Not Bootlegs? Contrary to Howard Reed's letter [December 1980] on curbing record piracy through licensing, I wonder why you don't review bootleg records. They are as much a part of the record industry as products from Columbia or RCA. The best records of many artists, such as Bruce Springsteen, are bootlegs. If they cost artists so much money, why are they all millionaires? The real pirates are companies that charge 59.00 per record. R. R. Keller Park Ridge, Ill. Let's Hear It for Digital In response to the finicky article in the November 1980 issue, "Digital vs. Analog vs. Direct-Cut Discs": Of course, digital sounds better! I have not heard the discs evaluated in the article Ian odd selection), but my ears tell me that the more spectacular moments in the digital "Firebird" and "Pictures at an Exhibition" (Telarc), "Images" (Angel), and numerous others are much more beautiful and overpowering than any competition on analog recordings. I've heard only a few direct-cut discs, such as Leinsdorf's Wagner program, but they too sound incredibly lifelike and exciting. Perhaps your listeners are too jaded to hear what excites the rest of us. Jack Sullivan New York, N.Y. Carver Development I am upset that the January issue of HIGH FIDELITY carried the item on the Yamaha pyramid power amplifier ["High Fidelity News"] without reference to the fact that the 8-6 and A-6 are manufactured under license to Carver Technology Development, Inc. Your statement that the B-6 is "similar in concept to the Carver Corporation's Magnetic Field amplifier" is merely a partial truth, which could easily confuse the reader as to who developed the technology. Bob Carver developed the Magnetic Field amplifier technology under which Yamaha is licensed. Diana Raphael, Carver Carver Technology Development, Inc. Woodinville, Wash. We regret the vagueness of our original phrase, but we cannot itemize the licensing agreements that lie behind every product we mention. If we did, every reference to cassette decks or tapes would perforce mention Philips, for example. -Ed. Schoenberg Transcription A minor correction to Irving Lowens' review in the October 1980 issue: Webern's transcription of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Op. 9, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano "was designed to go along with," not "a transcription for the same instruments" of the composer's "Pierrot lunaire," but with that work itself. "Pierrot lunaire" requires (in addition to a speaker) precisely the five players of those instruments, with the flutist doubling on piccolo, the clarinetist on bass clarinet, the violinist on viola. David Hamilton New York, N.Y. (High Fidelity, May 1981) Also see: |