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From: gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.music.classical
Subject: Re: suggestions for conversation
Message-ID: <215@lasspvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 14:06:16 EST
Article-I.D.: lasspvax.215
Posted: Tue Feb 26 14:06:16 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Mar-85 05:45:52 EST
References: <>
Reply-To: gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor)
Organization: LASSP, Cornell University
Lines: 25
Summary: 

In article <> malik@star.DEC (Karl Malik ZK01-1/F22 1-1440) writes:
>
>	5) Is current music theory/scholarship helpful? Or
>	   has it become a jargon-filled competition for
>	   university positions?
>
Dunno about the musicological community at large, but I recently sat
through an *ethnomusicological* gathering at a city I was visiting. It
was a subject I was somewhat familiar with, even. 

I have never laid eyes on such a bunch of obscurantistic pedants in
my whole life. My followup comes from Karl's posting, and reading
the general form of n.m.c postings:

I'm assuming that one finds much the same behaviour in the musicological
community as I saw in the ethno& community: It seems as if the reigning
powers have bought into something which is rather a cross between the
Romantic view of Art, Artists, Society (which I don't buy, but we'll do
that only if it comes up), and some sort of Positivist hangup about being
able to define, classify, etc. They also aren't all engaging in *making*
music, so there seems a certain amount of jealousy, overcompensation, etc.
there. In addition, as Karl points out, the field is *extremely* tight, so
the defensive instinct is up there.

Is there any way out of this?