In praise of the unspectacular

The effort to universalize human history has ended with the pursuit of the spectacular to enliven human understanding.
That observation is key to understanding l'affaire Sokolov and much else. It comes from Earle H. Waugh's Memory, Music and Religion, a book that also sparked my post 'Music and memory'.

The full title of Earle H. Waugh's book is Memory, Music, and Religion: Morocco's Mystical Chanters, and the photo was taken by me in Morocco close to the shrine of the Sufi saint Sidi Ali Ifni. Any other copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). No review samples used. Also on Facebook and Twitter.

Comments

Recent popular posts

David Munrow - more than early music

Classical music must be doing something wrong

Soundtrack for a porn movie

All is not lost, but where is it?

Beware of the classical music nimbies

The act of killing from 20,000 feet

All aboard the Martinu bandwagon

Is syncretic music the future?

The composer without a shadow?

Are top musicians sharing the financial pain?