...was Beethoven black, as Anthony Braxton brilliantly asserts?
I don't see the brilliance in that assertion, personally.
whether or not Braxton actually believes it, I think it shows a great sense of humor. I find it brilliant because it goes straight for the godhead of white civilized culture and, instead of taking the angle that Beethoven only made structural additions to a phallocentric, heirarchical tradition, it undermines his very identity and position in that culture. Cultural purists who vehemently deny Beethoven was 'of Moorish descent' only reveal their own racism in attempting to preserve the whiteness of their cultural giants from the dark forces of historical revisionism. Or is it a case of 'reverse revisionism'? who gives a fuck really if he was black or white or somewhere on the gray scale, ultimately, aside from the Purists? I just think it's brilliant because it 'puts a black-gloved fist up the diz of all conservative musical architects', to paraphrase someone claiming to be Thomas Pynchon.
From: "Steve Smith"<ssmith36@sprynet.com> Reply-To: ssmith36@sprynet.com To: Efrén del Valle <efrendv@yahoo.es> CC: zorn-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: Re: No Subject Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:33:35 -0500
On Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:16:57 +0100 (CET) =?iso-8859-1?q?Efr=E9n=20del=20Valle?= <efrendv@yahoo.es> wrote:
...was Beethoven black, as Anthony Braxton brilliantly asserts?
I don't see the brilliance in that assertion, personally.
I also thought Braxton was smarter!!
It's not Braxton's theory. And it was widely promulgated and perpetuated amongst certain factions of the classical music and African studies worlds not so long ago.
Recent theory and scholarship continues to suggest that Beethoven was of a decidedly ruddy complexion, but that there is no genuine indication that Beethoven was in fact black... which didn't stop an announcer on L.A.'s KUSC-FM to rather notoriously refer to him once as a "noted Moorish composer."
Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - Michael Torke, 'An American Abroad' - RSNO/Alsop (Naxos)
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The Godhead of white civilized culture is, of course, Eminem or Bach. It's so hard to keep them straight. As for Beethoven's position in any culture, that's probably only of interest within the academe, which means -- at it's most incendiary -- Braxton is stirring up a tempest in a teacup. Who would make an asserion about Beethoven like that unless he specifically wanted to tick off a bunch of guys who teach composition? What are those guys gonna do? Start a fistfight? Not likely. You're safer questioning one of their figureheads than you are by saying something similar about Malcom X in earshot of Chuck D. The most culturally revolutionary thing about Beethoven is much more practical -- that he was the first major composer to make a living in the private sector. No matter what color you are, it's still hard for a composer to make a living writing challenging stuff, unless he's around some of Hollywood's most deranged film producers (which happens just often enough for it not to be ruled out). sh
I find it brilliant because it goes straight for the godhead of white civilized culture and, instead of taking the angle that Beethoven only made structural additions to a phallocentric, heirarchical tradition, it undermines his very identity and position in that culture. Cultural purists who vehemently deny Beethoven was 'of Moorish descent' only reveal their own racism in attempting to preserve the whiteness of their cultural giants from the dark forces of historical revisionism. Or is it a case of 'reverse revisionism'? who gives a fuck really if he was black or white or somewhere on the gray scale, ultimately, aside from the Purists? I just think it's brilliant because it 'puts a black-gloved fist up the diz of all conservative musical architects', to paraphrase someone claiming to be Thomas Pynchon.
On Tue, 19 Nov 2002 18:23:01 -0500 "Crowmeat Bob" wrote:
...was Beethoven black, as Anthony Braxton brilliantly asserts?
I don't see the brilliance in that assertion, personally.
whether or not Braxton actually believes it, I think it shows a great sense of humor. I find it brilliant because it goes straight for the godhead of white civilized culture and, instead of taking the angle that Beethoven only made structural additions to a phallocentric, heirarchical tradition, it undermines his very identity and position in that culture. Cultural purists who vehemently deny Beethoven was 'of Moorish descent' only reveal their own racism in attempting to preserve the whiteness of their cultural giants from the dark forces of historical revisionism. Or is it a case of 'reverse revisionism'?
Or maybe they simply disagree because the statement is questionable. Since Beethoven has been around for a while and rates quite high on the achievement scale (read: we still remember him after more than two centuries), maybe people have reasons to be skeptical and think twice before jumping to conclusions following what might be a purely provocative statement. On the other side, you seem to embrace that idea simply because it matches your anti-conformist agenda. And we are not in the sixties...
who gives a fuck really if he was black or white or somewhere on the gray scale, ultimately, aside from the Purists?
If you really don't give a f..k, why are you creaming your pants at the simple idea that Beethoven is of Moorish descent?
I just think it's brilliant because it 'puts a black-gloved fist up the diz of all conservative musical architects', to paraphrase someone claiming to be Thomas Pynchon.
It simply shows that you jump to conclusions faster than you think maybe because to jump fast or think slow. Patrice.
on 11/19/02 4:10 PM, Patrice L. Roussel at proussel@ichips.intel.com wrote:
Or maybe they simply disagree because the statement is questionable. Since Beethoven has been around for a while and rates quite high on the achievement scale (read: we still remember him after more than two centuries), maybe people have reasons to be skeptical and think twice before jumping to conclusions following what might be a purely provocative statement. On the other side, you seem to embrace that idea simply because it matches your anti-conformist agenda. And we are not in the sixties...
1. We should probably all be skeptical anyway. 2. "Purely provocative" sounds like a synonymn for "with no basis in actual fact", which is accurate 3. We are not in the sixties? Lunatic in the White House, unjustifiable war at hand, lots of drugs all around, and Bob Dylan's made two really good albums in a row. You can see where some of us feel confused. sh
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