Observations on Music by an Alcoholic (1984) (1 Viewer)

I figured I let you all enjoy this rather than listening to BS on the Super Bowl half-time show. From Wormwood #137. According to the database, this one is uncollected:

OBSERVATIONS ON MUSIC BY AN ALCOHOLIC (1984)

I have been drunk for thousands of nights
listening to symphony music on the radio;
I doubt that there are many men my age
who have listened to as much of this music
as I -
even those in the profession.

I am not a musicologist
but
I have some observations:

(a) music played in the symphony halls and
on the radio is taken from the same 50 or
60 pieces - which are played over and over
and over again.
(b) there has been other music
written.
(c) the Second Movements of most symphonies are
only good for insomniacs.
(d) chamber music has every right to be energetic
and entertaining, but most of it is less inter-
esting than the Second Movements of the
symphonies.
(e) very few composers know how to END their
symphonies
but
most openings, like romances, have some
early charm.
(f) i prefer a conductor who inserts his personality
(interpretation) rather than the purist who follows
the rote of the master.
(g) of course, there are always some who insert so much
personality that the creator of the piece almost
vanishes.
(h) music is much like love-making but some composers never
climax; others over-climax leaving themselves and us
jaded and worn.
(i) humor is lacking most so-called great
works.
(j) Bach is the hardest to play badly because he
made so few spiritual and technical mistakes,
and it seems to transfer over, even to mediocre
conductors.
(k) almost all works could have been written
shorter.
(l) too much modern music is written form the safe
structure of a university position - one must still
experience life in its rawer forms in order to
write of it well.
(m) music is the most passionate of the art forms;
I wish I had been a musician.
(n) very few writers also know how to END their
works.

This is it.
 
It's interesting to read Buk's observations on classic music. He wished he had been a musician. That's news to me.
Thanks, PS...
 
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Thanks for sharing that.

I really think I've read that one somewhere before, but I've never read that particular issue of WR. Strange that it's apparently uncollected.
 
Thanks Purple!

He wished he had been a musician. That's news to me.

I remember 2 or 3 occations when he mentions he would have made a good piano-player since his hands are so delicate.

Purple:
Is the last line "This is it." part of the poem or the end of your post?

And hey! I LIKE the 2nd movements in most symphonies the best!
(I'm not an insomniac. If anything, I'm a lunatic. Well, both has to do with the night, so ...)
 
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"This is it." is the last line of the poem.

mdr: It could well be elsewhere. I can only go by what the database indicates. While a great resource, it isn't all-inclusive due to practicality issues. Changes in titles pose a problem (the same or similar poem with a new title for publication in another source) and occurrence of poems in magazines that aren't in the database, etc.

I'd like to think that the DB is a good indication that a poem at least is not in a major publication, but I'm not sure, for example, if it is current through The Pleasures of the Damned.
 
I remember him stating in the letters somewhere that he would make a good music critic, if they'd let him. Oviously he was right.
 
some notes on bach and haydn

One of my favorites is "some notes on bach and haydn" which opens:

it is quite something to turn your radio on
low
at 4:30 in the morning
in an apartment house
and hear Haydn
while through the blinds
you can see only the black night
as beautiful and quiet
as a flower.
and with that
something to drink,
of course,
a cigarette, and the heater going,
and Haydn going.
maybe 35 people
in a city of millions listening
as you are listening now,
smoking quietly,
not hating anything,
not wanting anything.
existing like mercury
you listen to a dead man's music
at 4:40 in the morning
only he is not really dead
as the smoke from your cigarette curls up,
is not really dead,
and all is magic,
this good sound
in Los Angeles.
but now a siren takes the air,
some trouble, murder, robbery, death...
but Haydn goes on
and you listen,
one of the finest mornings of your life...
 
I found where I had read that one before. It's on page 94 of Sifting Through the Madness. It's definitely the same poem, but it has been changed quite a bit. Some pretty interesting changes (especially at the end). Here it is:


observations on music

I have sat for thousands of nights
listening to symphony music on the radio;
I doubt that there are many men my age
who have listened to as much classical music
as I have ---
even those in the profession.

I am not a musicologist
but
I have some observations:
1) the same 50 or 60 classical compositions
are played over and over
and over again.
2) there has been other great music written that we
ignore at our peril.
3) the second movement of most symphonies is
only kind to insomniacs.
4) chamber music has every right to be energetic
and entertaining.
5) very few composers know how to END their
symphonies
but
most opening movements, like romance, have
early charm.
6) I prefer a conductor who inserts his own
interpretation rather than the purist who blindly follows
the commands of the master.
7) of course, there are always some conductors with so much ego and
"interpretation" that the composer
vanishes.
8) music is much like fucking, but some composers can't
climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the
listener
jaded and spent.
9) humor is lacking in most so-called great musical
compositions.
10) Bach is the hardest to play badly because he
made so few spiritual mistakes.
11) almost all symphonies and operas could be
shorter.
12) too much contemporary music is written from the safe
haven of a university. a composer must still
experience life in its raw form in order to
write well.
13) music is the most passionate of the art forms;
I wish I had been a musician or a composer.
14) very few writers know how to END a
poem like this one
15) but I do.
 
I also noticed that they took out "by an Alcoholic" from the title and the part about being drunk in the first stanza, like they were trying to clean it up.

But then they changed "love-making" to "fucking" in #8, so the intent of the revision seems strange.
 
Really enjoyed this. Interesting:

(e) very few composers know how to END their
symphonies
but
most openings, like romances, have some
early charm.

(n) very few writers also know how to END their
works.

Interesting
 

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