Perhaps some morning you will wake up with a craving to hear some Ukrainian kolomyika music, and you will know what it sounds like! Way back in June 1959, Mad magazine had a funny feature that compared Conformists with Non-Conformists and Mad Non-Conformists.
For music, Conformists play insipid show scores, dismal pop tunes conducted by Jackie Gleason, sickening dance music by Guy Lombardo, rock n’ roll hits by Ricky and Elvis, and occasional works of Gershwin and Tchaikovsky on complicated hi-fi sets.
Non-Conformists play obscure folk songs sung by obscure folk, dull chamber music played in dull chambers, Wagnerian operas in their entirety, Gregorian chants, and readings of minor Welsh poets on super-complicated stereo hi-fi sets.
Mad Non-Conformists play bird calls, tap dancing and exercise lessons, transcriptions of Senate Committee hearings, Gallagher & Shean, The Singing Lady, and theme music from famous monster movies on easy-to-operate hand-wound victrolas.
I've always remembered that feature (I had to look it up online just now to verify the wording), so maybe it inspired me to find out what everyone was listening to.
I can't thank you enough for your effort. I looked forward to every one of your posts. Some genres and sub-genres weren't to my liking, but that is probably true of most readers. I do not listen to Wagner and haven't since 2014. I was a helden-tenor, essentially a baritone with the upper range of a tenor. The term was invented to describe heroic roles in Wagner's operas. My vocal cords were irreparably damaged in 2014 when I had a cardiac arrest on a gurney in an OR waiting for a bypass operation. Since the alternative was death, I'm not particularly resentful.
I can't listen to Wagner without mourning what was lost.
Did you know about the Wagnerian tuba? It's a regular tuba with a French horn mouthpiece. Produces a sound like no other instrument. Wagner was truly a rebel, even though he was also a race essentialist, putting the Aryan race above all others. Complex fellow.
Also, Tchaikovsky is panned by most musicologists for doing nothing new, while Gershwin is held in high esteem for doing new things. As I age, I find that Gershwin is too difficult to listen to, and Tchaikovsky doesn't tax my brain.
I like all three composers, perhaps Tchaikovsky the best. Mozart can do no wrong, and Rachmaninoff and Scriabin are cool piano dudes. "Ride of the Valkyries" is a wonderful composition for waking people up in the morning. No, I did not know about the Wagnerian tuba!
I will still be lurking on Substack, so I will see your posts. I was going to do much more, but Substack has a stupid 10-publication limit that they do not say anything about in their "help" files. That is an insurmountable limitation for me, as I have a great deal of content I could transfer.
Are you on Facebook? I post a bunch of (hopefully) informative and entertaining content almost every day. If you are, send me a Friend request at https://www.facebook.com/george.eberhart/ .
It will be at least two weeks before I can do anything on Facebook. I can't find my passwords for the 1,937 sites to which I belong. Plus, Substack is my substitute for social media.
A amazing resource. Will return often. thank you for the research and links. I discovered so much new.
Perhaps some morning you will wake up with a craving to hear some Ukrainian kolomyika music, and you will know what it sounds like! Way back in June 1959, Mad magazine had a funny feature that compared Conformists with Non-Conformists and Mad Non-Conformists.
For music, Conformists play insipid show scores, dismal pop tunes conducted by Jackie Gleason, sickening dance music by Guy Lombardo, rock n’ roll hits by Ricky and Elvis, and occasional works of Gershwin and Tchaikovsky on complicated hi-fi sets.
Non-Conformists play obscure folk songs sung by obscure folk, dull chamber music played in dull chambers, Wagnerian operas in their entirety, Gregorian chants, and readings of minor Welsh poets on super-complicated stereo hi-fi sets.
Mad Non-Conformists play bird calls, tap dancing and exercise lessons, transcriptions of Senate Committee hearings, Gallagher & Shean, The Singing Lady, and theme music from famous monster movies on easy-to-operate hand-wound victrolas.
I've always remembered that feature (I had to look it up online just now to verify the wording), so maybe it inspired me to find out what everyone was listening to.
Hey, I like Gregorian chants.
I can't thank you enough for your effort. I looked forward to every one of your posts. Some genres and sub-genres weren't to my liking, but that is probably true of most readers. I do not listen to Wagner and haven't since 2014. I was a helden-tenor, essentially a baritone with the upper range of a tenor. The term was invented to describe heroic roles in Wagner's operas. My vocal cords were irreparably damaged in 2014 when I had a cardiac arrest on a gurney in an OR waiting for a bypass operation. Since the alternative was death, I'm not particularly resentful.
I can't listen to Wagner without mourning what was lost.
Did you know about the Wagnerian tuba? It's a regular tuba with a French horn mouthpiece. Produces a sound like no other instrument. Wagner was truly a rebel, even though he was also a race essentialist, putting the Aryan race above all others. Complex fellow.
Also, Tchaikovsky is panned by most musicologists for doing nothing new, while Gershwin is held in high esteem for doing new things. As I age, I find that Gershwin is too difficult to listen to, and Tchaikovsky doesn't tax my brain.
I like all three composers, perhaps Tchaikovsky the best. Mozart can do no wrong, and Rachmaninoff and Scriabin are cool piano dudes. "Ride of the Valkyries" is a wonderful composition for waking people up in the morning. No, I did not know about the Wagnerian tuba!
I will still be lurking on Substack, so I will see your posts. I was going to do much more, but Substack has a stupid 10-publication limit that they do not say anything about in their "help" files. That is an insurmountable limitation for me, as I have a great deal of content I could transfer.
Are you on Facebook? I post a bunch of (hopefully) informative and entertaining content almost every day. If you are, send me a Friend request at https://www.facebook.com/george.eberhart/ .
It will be at least two weeks before I can do anything on Facebook. I can't find my passwords for the 1,937 sites to which I belong. Plus, Substack is my substitute for social media.
As an alternative, go to marktreble.com and contact me.