In classical composition, you might not HAVE to go back, but listen to what Ravel accomplished by "going back" in his "Bolero".
I think Jose Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire" is excellent, but The Doors gave us the song. Jimbo wasn't known for being overly modest, but wasn't his pretentiousness one of his "better" traits?
One thing about rock music critics is that they almost always revert to what they like the best. Classical and Jazz critics are a bit more objective. If Jazz and Classical music were more popular, then perhaps we would see more of the rock style criticism as commercial interests moved in with their paid informers.
Scaruffi's website is interesting. None of the critic's reviews he links to are in close agreement on what is the best in rock music. I don't agree with many of the classical music lists either.
www.scaruffi.com
Anyone into 60's music?
Alan, Beethoven did write some excellent short pieces. One that comes to mind is "Fur Elise".
Rachmaninov write the "24 Preludes", most of which average around 3 minutes.
Beethoven wrote the "12 Contredanses For Orchestra" which all together last about 9 minutes, or an average of 45 seconds each. You hear in them where he got inspiration for parts of the "Eroica" symphony. He didn't need 2.5 minutes to get a musical idea across. Remember what I said about his "bird lessons"? Also, the woodwinds make literal bird sounds in the "Eroica" symphony as well.
Rachmaninov write the "24 Preludes", most of which average around 3 minutes.
Beethoven wrote the "12 Contredanses For Orchestra" which all together last about 9 minutes, or an average of 45 seconds each. You hear in them where he got inspiration for parts of the "Eroica" symphony. He didn't need 2.5 minutes to get a musical idea across. Remember what I said about his "bird lessons"? Also, the woodwinds make literal bird sounds in the "Eroica" symphony as well.
P.S. Some of you might get a bigger hoot out of other aspects of Scaruffi's website. Since the guy is highly educated and writes on a variety of subjects, it seems to have improved his odds at being right about common sense issues. I noticed that on most issues where an ignorant but sensible person would have a 50/50 chance of being right if they took a SWAG at it, Mr. Scaruffi manages to be right about 50% of the time. That's pretty good for a European educated intellectual.
If you get out of the music reviews, and into his political writings, you see that he carries the socialistic tendencies of many university educated western Europeans. It's the same thing that I saw in most German medical students when I was in college. They have a hard time understanding that "free" universal health care isn't free, for example. I work in the medical field, so I see the problems with his viewpoint, without ignoring our problems as well.
He also has a hard time understanding that a fantastic 180 mph European monorail train is still a bit slow compared to a 500 mph airliner that is able to cross water as well as land. Americans have different distances to contend with. Americans would HAVE the monorail and other things he prescribes for us if we WANTED them badly enough. Maybe we don't want to pay extra to slow down and mar the landscape that he claims we want to destroy. Maybe Americans don't want social security payments diverted to public transportation. Whatever. He's not the first European who pretends to know what's best for us, and an excellent modern example of why the Monroe Doctrine was a good idea after all.
Just because I agreed on a few points in his music reviews doesn't mean I buy his whole spiel. BTW, he DID rate some of the Beatles albums too low in my opinion. I don't think the Beatles did any 3's on a 0-9 scale. I just said their biggest fans had often rated them too highly.
As Russia comes out of their Communist/Socialist past, we'll see if they become more like America or Scaruffi's Italy/Western Europe. If given a choice, more Russians would rather drive their own car than take the bus, and hire the healthcare professionals of their choice with their own money than be assigned a physician at a state facility. The Educated Intellectuals gave them Communism and a few other things they are trying to get rid of. Still, Scaruffi is less socialistic than some I have met, so I give him a generous 50% rating. He can't understand that less government involvement, not more, is what works best for America because he was raised up in a socialistic European system. He doesn't seem to see the hypocrisy in his political beliefs, or that the free market can provide better answers than government in many areas. He's not going to change his tune. He IS right that Europe led by France and Germany is a bigger threat to us than Russia. (England seems to think so as well) Another reason for his relatively high 50% rating (for a European Intellectual) from me.
BTW, most educated Russians I have met definitely have a preference for Americans over Western Europeans. They aren't ignorant of Europe's ingrained politics and the way Russia is viewed by them as rich booty for the taking.
He also has a hard time understanding that a fantastic 180 mph European monorail train is still a bit slow compared to a 500 mph airliner that is able to cross water as well as land. Americans have different distances to contend with. Americans would HAVE the monorail and other things he prescribes for us if we WANTED them badly enough. Maybe we don't want to pay extra to slow down and mar the landscape that he claims we want to destroy. Maybe Americans don't want social security payments diverted to public transportation. Whatever. He's not the first European who pretends to know what's best for us, and an excellent modern example of why the Monroe Doctrine was a good idea after all.
Just because I agreed on a few points in his music reviews doesn't mean I buy his whole spiel. BTW, he DID rate some of the Beatles albums too low in my opinion. I don't think the Beatles did any 3's on a 0-9 scale. I just said their biggest fans had often rated them too highly.
As Russia comes out of their Communist/Socialist past, we'll see if they become more like America or Scaruffi's Italy/Western Europe. If given a choice, more Russians would rather drive their own car than take the bus, and hire the healthcare professionals of their choice with their own money than be assigned a physician at a state facility. The Educated Intellectuals gave them Communism and a few other things they are trying to get rid of. Still, Scaruffi is less socialistic than some I have met, so I give him a generous 50% rating. He can't understand that less government involvement, not more, is what works best for America because he was raised up in a socialistic European system. He doesn't seem to see the hypocrisy in his political beliefs, or that the free market can provide better answers than government in many areas. He's not going to change his tune. He IS right that Europe led by France and Germany is a bigger threat to us than Russia. (England seems to think so as well) Another reason for his relatively high 50% rating (for a European Intellectual) from me.
BTW, most educated Russians I have met definitely have a preference for Americans over Western Europeans. They aren't ignorant of Europe's ingrained politics and the way Russia is viewed by them as rich booty for the taking.
Well, I´m a university educated western european and I can tell you that, today, university people are pretty conservative. Anyway, even the european social-democracy is not socialistic. Marxism is long forgotten. I would say that the european socialists are similar to your left-wing democrats.
But I´ll shut my mouth, this is not the Forum to talk about politics!
But I´ll shut my mouth, this is not the Forum to talk about politics!
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shamustwin
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:00 am