[Note: This post has been updated (1) as of 11:13 AM Eastern on 6 Jul. See below.]
We were not in the least surprised that Tom Service, the intellectually and musically challenged classical music critic for The Guardian, took in earnest and swallowed whole the content of the new website, Musoc.org. It is, after all, no more than we would have expected of him.
When, however, an intellectually sharp and musically savvy classical music critic such as Anne Midgette, chief classical music critic for The Washington Post, does the same, we begin to wonder about our own assessment of Musoc.org's intent. With its cleverly shaped and ambiguously parodic treatment of the classical-pop cultural wars in the domain of music, it seems to us that the site's content (presumably a multi-author effort none of the authors of which are identified or credited by name, and might in fact be the work of a single individual) is giving point to the at-bottom silliness of the argument(s) by its ultimate reductio ad absurdum, categorical treatment of the matter (see, for instance, this FAQ, and this page of Definitions).
But, then, perhaps it's just our unwillingness to accept that any serious championing of classical music could, in absolute dead earnest, be that woodenheadedly and mindlessly categorical in its zeal to champion the genre. It's, after all, not only entirely unnecessary, but works against the very thing it purports to champion.
Update (11:13 AM Eastern on 6 Jul): It's come to our notice that in several quarters Musoc.org's position on pop versus classical music has been seen as essentially similar to our own. It should be needless to say (but apparently isn't) that beyond our general sympathy with Musoc.org's central idea, there's very little similarity between Musoc.org's position and ours as should have been made clear from the content of the above post. Our position is perhaps best expressed in a 2003 S&F piece entitled, "A Call For A Return To Hierarchal Sobriety", which piece we recommend to your attention.
On The Road To Prohibition
Is It For Real, Or Is It Clever Skewering?
[Note: This post has been updated (1) as of 11:13 AM Eastern on 6 Jul. See below.]
We were not in the least surprised that Tom Service, the intellectually and musically challenged classical music critic for The Guardian, took in earnest and swallowed whole the content of the new website, Musoc.org. It is, after all, no more than we would have expected of him.
When, however, an intellectually sharp and musically savvy classical music critic such as Anne Midgette, chief classical music critic for The Washington Post, does the same, we begin to wonder about our own assessment of Musoc.org's intent. With its cleverly shaped and ambiguously parodic treatment of the classical-pop cultural wars in the domain of music, it seems to us that the site's content (presumably a multi-author effort none of the authors of which are identified or credited by name, and might in fact be the work of a single individual) is giving point to the at-bottom silliness of the argument(s) by its ultimate reductio ad absurdum, categorical treatment of the matter (see, for instance, this FAQ, and this page of Definitions).
But, then, perhaps it's just our unwillingness to accept that any serious championing of classical music could, in absolute dead earnest, be that woodenheadedly and mindlessly categorical in its zeal to champion the genre. It's, after all, not only entirely unnecessary, but works against the very thing it purports to champion.
Update (11:13 AM Eastern on 6 Jul): It's come to our notice that in several quarters Musoc.org's position on pop versus classical music has been seen as essentially similar to our own. It should be needless to say (but apparently isn't) that beyond our general sympathy with Musoc.org's central idea, there's very little similarity between Musoc.org's position and ours as should have been made clear from the content of the above post. Our position is perhaps best expressed in a 2003 S&F piece entitled, "A Call For A Return To Hierarchal Sobriety", which piece we recommend to your attention.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 03 July 2009 | Permalink