A friend of mine (a guitarist who has forsaken rock for classical in the past year) has been telling me quite a bit about a book by Allan Bloom called The Closing of the American Mind, specifically the section pertaining to music. In this section he is very critical of rock music and pretty much any music that doesn't fit under the broad classical nomenclature, at least this is the impression that I get from my friend and some of the quotes he's used. I wanted some z-listers' opinions on this book and its views. I have not had the time to pick the book up, so I'm going on what my friend has told me. Is this book as hard lined as my friend is making it out to be, that Bloom has no tolerance for (or worse believes in the inherit evilness of) any non-classical music, especially rock? If so that's a very frustrating view to me as I know of a great many non-classical works that have enriched my life in a way many classical pieces have failed. Mozart is nice, but I can only listen for so long (the Requiem is another story, though). Zach
This book is, along with Adorno's 'Philosophy of new music' and 'Dialectic of Enlightenment', my main ennemy among written things ('three tenors' are the target among musical objects). Parts of the critique are interesting, but his agressive self confidence and hate towards what he sees as popular culture make it a monster. Yet another opinion form mr. academic teacher on the eternal topic of "now wouldn't this world been much better had everyone ACTED JUST LIKE ME AND AMDMIRED THOSE NICE THINGS I DO, but they are just to silly to to that". As for his view of rock, he treats it as something that makes life 'a comercially confected masturabational fantasy' (my retranslation from polish edition), no mer, no less. Needless to say, there's no single musical argument in the chapter devoted to it, just plain 'what's that horrible violinless thing' atittude. I could elaborate on this later, Marcin ----- Original Message ----- From: Zachary Steiner book and its views. I have not had the time to pick the book up, so I'm going on what my friend has told me. Is this book as hard lined as my friend is making it out to be, that Bloom has no tolerance for (or worse believes in the inherit evilness of) any non-classical music, especially rock? Zach
participants (2)
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Marcin Gokieli -
Zachary Steiner