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Posted by 02 Naturally, most people, have to make a living and want to do something to earn a living that is meaningful to them, so they rework their draft and get their modicum of moola from the publisher. This is, of course, the order of things in this society we've inherited. If I want people to listen to my music and enjoy it, then I have to compose stuff that somehow appeals to the audience. If I want to be a great composer whose music nobody likes, then I have to get my tenure at a university, bully every person in the soup kitchen until I'm first in line, then go next door to the people at the SMT soup kitchen, bully them until they recognize my genius and publish papers on my music, and then I'm a great composer. How many performances outside of academic environments does Schoenberg get each year? Maybe someone tries Verklarte Nacht on their audience, but that work is not what makes the graduate students in composition and theory write papers that land them assistant professorships. It's a world of entertainment and commerce. Only Straus, and possibly those closest to him, know what went on his publisher. Maybe Straus would agree with your criticism and use it to inform his publisher that some people noticed his lack of originality--"next time, I'd like to keep some of my key ideas--after all, that's what makes me different from other theorists!"
on 10/23/2006, 11:15 am, in reply to "Re: Straus: Intro to P.T. Theory"
Message modified by board administrator 10/23/2006, 11:45 am
Imagine writing a book, like Straus or Wuorinen did. You write your draft, you send it to the publisher, and the publisher accepts it but sends it back with red pencil all over the draft, essentially deleting all your great ideas. Do you reject the publisher and put your career in peril? Or do you rework your draft to make your publisher happy?
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