Re: MD Do we all need philosophy?

From: David MOREY (us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Sun Feb 08 2004 - 17:10:09 GMT

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    Hi Platt

    Well I do think we need to be less
    pessimistic in promoting high cultural
    achievements over low ones, I think the
    forces of commerce have quite some blame
    in this, and governments have done little to
    discourage some of the worse aspects of our
    dumbing down. By the way Richard Stauss seems
    to have gone missing from the list, in my opionion.

    regards
    David M

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Platt Holden" <pholden@sc.rr.com>
    To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
    Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 3:20 PM
    Subject: Re: MD Do we all need philosophy?

    > Hi David M,
    >
    > >A Britney fan may discover the pleasures of Mozart
    > > some day, but a Mozart fan is somewhat unlikely to convert
    > > to the musical pleasures of Britney. To appreciate Mozart
    > > is to reach a higher level of musical sophitication than to
    > > appreciate Britney. I say this with a musical taste that ranges
    > > from the Clash to Led Zeppelin to Mozart to Wagner. Despite
    > > the enthusiam for the first two I can see them fading from the cultural
    > > consciousness whilst the latter two remain.
    >
    > Speaking of long-lasting musical excellence (Mozart) compared to
    > contemporary popularity (Britney), Charles Murray in his book "Human
    > Achievement" comes up with the following ranking of greats in Western
    > music according to the experts (in descending order):
    >
    > Beethoven
    > Mozart
    > J.S. Bach
    > Wagner
    > Hayden
    > Handle
    > Stravinsky
    > Debussy
    > Liszt
    > Schubert
    > Schumann
    > Berlioz
    > Schoenberg
    > Brahms
    > Chopin
    > Monteverdi
    > Verdi
    > Mendelssohn
    > Weber
    > Gluck
    >
    > Few would argue with your conclusion that the utter crap that passes as
    > music in the popular culture today will eventually fade from cultural
    > consciousness, although there is historical precedent for the adage that
    > the "bad drives out the good." (When Britney is put on a higher level than
    > Beethoven, you know society is in trouble.) Still if Pirsig is right,
    > great art's ability to the communicate humanity's highest values
    > transrationally across generations will, in the long run, prevail.
    > Evolution towards betterness driven by DQ will not be denied.
    >
    > Regards,
    > Platt
    >
    >
    >
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