The Tucker ranch, a rather rough 9 acres of mesquite, cactus, weeds, dirt, and a small tank full of water, continues to provide a plethora of questions and observations that require further rumination. We have 2 llamas, 2 donkeys, 3 geese, 1 duck (who thinks he is a goose), 1 goat, and well over 100 catfish, not to mention the myriad but hidden skunks, raccoons, turkeys, and probably the occasional fox! The last few days we have allowed friends to come fishing at our place to their great pleasure and my enjoyment at seeing their happiness. Our catfish are large and give a good fight to stay in the water, but there is no doubt that we need to get several out of the tank in case the lack of rain continues to result in less and less water.
Yet all is not well at the Tucker ranch for I have a personal problem with one of the geese and a deep suspicion of one of the donkeys. On the good side, I have a positive relationship with the goat, the 2 llamas, one of the donkeys, and the catfish all love me for my ability to feed them once a week with delicious floating catfish food. One day I decided to have a discussion with the geese and settle our differences. With bread in hand, I approached my friends and tossed them some fresh bread only to have the same mean goose spread her wings and run toward me, beak ready to attack my leg. I jumped back using my amazing reflexes developed on the basketball court and adopted a stunning karate stance, and using my best Chuck Norris form, I kicked the vicious creature on the tip of the beak. She shook her head and returned to the bread, appropriately humbled and hopefully wiser. During this episode the duck that thinks he is a goose seemed completely unaware of the disdain the goose and I have for each other.
I did have a curiosity about some small floating dark pellets that recently began to proliferate in the tank, but after careful study, I could not discern their source. They seemed too small to be donkey waste and too solid to be goose waste, so I narrowed it down to deer or perhaps the llamas. Sure enough, as I was watching the tank, the llamas approached the water, walked in, and relieved themselves in both ways. With unlimited land, dirt, low spots, high spots, trees, and bushes available to them, why do they choose to relieve themselves in the tank? I also noticed the catfish would occasionally come to the surface to partake in the free fare. The lack of culinary standards has confirmed my reluctance to eat catfish ever again. What they put in their bodies is disgusting, making them unworthy of human consumption. Sorry to be elitist on this.
I don't like the donkeys and they don't like me. One in particular runs away every time he sees me, and I suspect both of them are eating the goose eggs on a regular basis much to my irritation since the only purpose for the geese I can find is to eat their eggs. It may be time to rid our ranch of the donkeys and once again acquire more goats. We shall see. In the meantime, after spending some time out on the range (okay, more like an extended yard of weeds), I returned to my domicile to get away from the complexities of the animals.
Unfortunately, one of our (our is an overstatement since we don't exactly own these) cats had 5 baby kittens and had brought them to the back porch for our enjoyment, and no doubt about it, they are cute. But, really, we do not need any more cats around. They serve their functional purpose of keeping the rodents and snakes away. Perhaps they, like some of our other cats, will seek out greener pastures and more generous caretakers, for we are indeed a little bit stingy with our food. Furthermore, they lack in warmth and are not of the cuddly variety and instead hiss and scratch when we are near. Oh joy on that!
So goes life for the animals at the Tucker home.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Contractarianism or Natural Human Decency
The news release of the confiscation of cell phones at a Texas Junior High school due to the sharing of indecent images of two female students at the school has prompted a series of questions in my mind. As a Christian, Bible reading, God-fearing, family-loving, law-abiding man, I find myself questioning how these things can happen and what kind of moral code is being instilled in our teenagers. With this question, I wonder about the advent of technology and how that will affect contractarianism, a concept that has existed historically and seems to bear out in progress and refinement in our society.
The idea of social contract theory is that if all things are within the realm of normal sanity and if life is in a typical day to day situation without any kind of critical experience, people live within a moral code established almost subliminally in a type of acceptance of right and wrong regardless of the laws set forth by man or by God. In other words, we somehow seem to know what is best for ourselves and for other people. An objectivist, a person who subscribes to the philosophical movement proposed by Ayn Rand, might say that the adherence to selfish principles ultimately serves other people by virtue of respecting individuality. It is your individual right to pursue excellence and to make social decisions that are in your best interest. For example if you are standing in line for a hamburger, you might be a little impatient at the slow line, but you choose not to express loud expletives at the workers who are delivering the burgers at a slow pace. You might choose to go somewhere else or you might offer a suggestion for improvement, but you also have a sense of what ultimately is best for you which might be to wait patiently for the burger in spite of the difficult circumstances.
But whatever the deep motivation behind a given behavior, there is no doubt that contractarianism exists in culture and in society both individually and collectively. We seem to have a natural understanding of what is moral and what is not apart from our governmental laws or religious training, embracing and seeking out the best behavior that suits our purposes either selfishly or selflessly regardless of state intervention. In contrast, a Christian, such as I, might posture that social contract theory is limited, however, by relativism and situational ethics and does not contain the unyielding requirements set forth by Biblical law. And this is certainly true.
While I have heard it stated that there is no behavior that a Christian can do that is any different from a non-Christian, I think the difference lies in those higher moral responsibilities that certainly may exist outside of Christianity but perhaps not as universally (yes, I recognize the logic flaw and the box I just opened!) nor as succinctly. Obviously there is a danger, a narrow slice, and in fact becomes anathema to categorize and label Christianity as solely being a system of moral choices or providing a cultural framework; yet it cannot be denied that it is part of societal gain. Even a devout atheist cannot ignore the moral good resulting from the permeation of Christianity in our world.
But let's return to our incident of the indecent photographs on multiple cell phones. This is not a religious issue and if the students were older, it would not be a governmental issue, but somehow, almost instinctually, we sense that the event crosses over into an affront to the unwritten social contract to which we abide every day. In the end, apart from our many failings as humans, we insist on embracing and practicing natural human decency that respects and honors the individual but protects the corporate and hopefully the innocent.
We fight for independence but seek to create a climate of good that benefits the most people. While the moral code of society may fluctuate some, and there is a floating relativism that makes us a little uncomfortable, we continue to battle for what is right and what is good. The flaws are rampant in contractarianism but it is also a concept that explains the sociological phenomenon that takes place when laws are not obviously governing a situation. We tend to adopt a behavioral pattern that is acceptable to the people around us and serves the greater good.
In our current case of the inappropriate photographs one of the problems, among many, is the lack of maturation of the individuals involved not to mention wisdom and judgment. This means that social contract theory is only applicable to mature individuals and even with this requirement, still does not supply the explanation for many of culture's current challenges. It is my hope that the students are punished for their actions and that cell phone usage be governed closely. It is furthermore my suggestion that an age restriction for particular technological activities be imposed on teenagers as they continue to learn how to apply natural human decency to their everyday lives.
The idea of social contract theory is that if all things are within the realm of normal sanity and if life is in a typical day to day situation without any kind of critical experience, people live within a moral code established almost subliminally in a type of acceptance of right and wrong regardless of the laws set forth by man or by God. In other words, we somehow seem to know what is best for ourselves and for other people. An objectivist, a person who subscribes to the philosophical movement proposed by Ayn Rand, might say that the adherence to selfish principles ultimately serves other people by virtue of respecting individuality. It is your individual right to pursue excellence and to make social decisions that are in your best interest. For example if you are standing in line for a hamburger, you might be a little impatient at the slow line, but you choose not to express loud expletives at the workers who are delivering the burgers at a slow pace. You might choose to go somewhere else or you might offer a suggestion for improvement, but you also have a sense of what ultimately is best for you which might be to wait patiently for the burger in spite of the difficult circumstances.
But whatever the deep motivation behind a given behavior, there is no doubt that contractarianism exists in culture and in society both individually and collectively. We seem to have a natural understanding of what is moral and what is not apart from our governmental laws or religious training, embracing and seeking out the best behavior that suits our purposes either selfishly or selflessly regardless of state intervention. In contrast, a Christian, such as I, might posture that social contract theory is limited, however, by relativism and situational ethics and does not contain the unyielding requirements set forth by Biblical law. And this is certainly true.
While I have heard it stated that there is no behavior that a Christian can do that is any different from a non-Christian, I think the difference lies in those higher moral responsibilities that certainly may exist outside of Christianity but perhaps not as universally (yes, I recognize the logic flaw and the box I just opened!) nor as succinctly. Obviously there is a danger, a narrow slice, and in fact becomes anathema to categorize and label Christianity as solely being a system of moral choices or providing a cultural framework; yet it cannot be denied that it is part of societal gain. Even a devout atheist cannot ignore the moral good resulting from the permeation of Christianity in our world.
But let's return to our incident of the indecent photographs on multiple cell phones. This is not a religious issue and if the students were older, it would not be a governmental issue, but somehow, almost instinctually, we sense that the event crosses over into an affront to the unwritten social contract to which we abide every day. In the end, apart from our many failings as humans, we insist on embracing and practicing natural human decency that respects and honors the individual but protects the corporate and hopefully the innocent.
We fight for independence but seek to create a climate of good that benefits the most people. While the moral code of society may fluctuate some, and there is a floating relativism that makes us a little uncomfortable, we continue to battle for what is right and what is good. The flaws are rampant in contractarianism but it is also a concept that explains the sociological phenomenon that takes place when laws are not obviously governing a situation. We tend to adopt a behavioral pattern that is acceptable to the people around us and serves the greater good.
In our current case of the inappropriate photographs one of the problems, among many, is the lack of maturation of the individuals involved not to mention wisdom and judgment. This means that social contract theory is only applicable to mature individuals and even with this requirement, still does not supply the explanation for many of culture's current challenges. It is my hope that the students are punished for their actions and that cell phone usage be governed closely. It is furthermore my suggestion that an age restriction for particular technological activities be imposed on teenagers as they continue to learn how to apply natural human decency to their everyday lives.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Trip to El Paso
I headed out to El Paso on a Friday and returned to Brownwood on the next day. It was a long but quick trip full of CD listening, the occasional store stop, and a couple of observations along the way. Traveling requires a few breaks now and then, but I wonder if there is a clean restroom between Brownwood and El Paso. I am not necessarily a neat, compulsively fastidious person and do prefer a little randomness and clutter in my life at least to an extent, yet my mother taught me to respect cleanliness and to avoid germs when possible. So it is rather disconcerting to walk into a public restroom in a convenient store and find filth on the floor, walls, and various fixtures.
On the one hand, I want to direct some righteous anger at people who use the restroom and are unable to find the garbage cans, or enjoy spitting gum in the urinals, or insist on writing creative sayings on the wall, which in and of itself could be another diatribe of examination over what some of these things really mean, yet for now let's skirt that subject rather judiciously. But I also wonder about the quality control of such situations particularly as I see workers in the store talking on cell phones or reading a magazine in the corner. So I took care of personal business rather quickly and avoided stores when possible.
I ate some delicious and filling barbecue in the town of Monahans and was tempted to finish my late lunch with some peach cobbler but decided against it in favor of a nice meal in El Paso on Friday evening. I drove onward listening to jazz pianist hyper-talent Oscar Peterson play his amazingly smooth improvisations on various jazz tunes and found myself laughing once again at the jazz standard "Mumbles," a nonsensical chart of pure jazz guaranteed to bring a smile. After the musical bath of great jazz, I gravitated to some Philip Glass with an early effort called "The Civil warS, a tree is best measured when it is down." This early corroborative effort of Glass and Robert Wilson was recently recorded and contains the engaging and energetic sounds of Philip Glass who is now one of the most successful Hollywood film score composers today.
By the time the Glass CD was over, I had arrived in Van Horn and had to make my usual stop at Ran Horn's Van Gogh Art Gallery. Of course, "usual" does not describe this experience. It is a fascinating warehouse of art works, books, videos, and lots of odds and ends. I sifted through the thousands of books and ended up buying two older books that mean something to me. An old John D. MacDonald and a Kenneth Roberts. I regretted not allowing more time to look for I suspect there are many other books of great interest. I had a quick but directed conversation with Mr. Horn related to purchasing these books and his goal of "going out of business." He reminded me that he could go out of business tomorrow or in 25 years. I elected not to pursue this line of conversation and chose instead to return to my vehicle and press onward to El Paso.
After checking in at the motel and setting up my computer, I knew it was time to check on my grandmother at the nursing home. I arrived, made the familiar walk through the wheelchairs, listened to the occasional strange comment from the clients, and went to my grandmother's room. Alas, she was asleep. Her nurse and I made a weak attempt to awaken her but to no avail. I hid my disappointment and peripherally wondered how often she could be considered awake and left to seek out a steak and perhaps a little lobster. I stopped at Cattle Baron, ate too much food which I enjoyed greatly, and returned back to my motel room for some reading and computer work.
The next day I woke up early, drank some coffee, read some more of my new John D. MacDonald book, made sure I was prepared and headed to the church now called Exciting Immanuel for the Howard Payne University recognition ceremony for the new graduates. I spoke with my usual mediocre flair, shook many hands, and headed home. The trip home was uneventful other than my quest for a decent sized tree, and listening to some more CDs. I had purchased a new Lionel Richie CD, a Maynard Ferguson collection, and the most enjoyable and gripping musical, Oliver. I arrived home in the evening and after hugging everyone, putting my things away, and relaxing for a minute or two, I headed to bed for a good night's sleep. And that, my friends, was my quick trip to El Paso and back.
On the one hand, I want to direct some righteous anger at people who use the restroom and are unable to find the garbage cans, or enjoy spitting gum in the urinals, or insist on writing creative sayings on the wall, which in and of itself could be another diatribe of examination over what some of these things really mean, yet for now let's skirt that subject rather judiciously. But I also wonder about the quality control of such situations particularly as I see workers in the store talking on cell phones or reading a magazine in the corner. So I took care of personal business rather quickly and avoided stores when possible.
I ate some delicious and filling barbecue in the town of Monahans and was tempted to finish my late lunch with some peach cobbler but decided against it in favor of a nice meal in El Paso on Friday evening. I drove onward listening to jazz pianist hyper-talent Oscar Peterson play his amazingly smooth improvisations on various jazz tunes and found myself laughing once again at the jazz standard "Mumbles," a nonsensical chart of pure jazz guaranteed to bring a smile. After the musical bath of great jazz, I gravitated to some Philip Glass with an early effort called "The Civil warS, a tree is best measured when it is down." This early corroborative effort of Glass and Robert Wilson was recently recorded and contains the engaging and energetic sounds of Philip Glass who is now one of the most successful Hollywood film score composers today.
By the time the Glass CD was over, I had arrived in Van Horn and had to make my usual stop at Ran Horn's Van Gogh Art Gallery. Of course, "usual" does not describe this experience. It is a fascinating warehouse of art works, books, videos, and lots of odds and ends. I sifted through the thousands of books and ended up buying two older books that mean something to me. An old John D. MacDonald and a Kenneth Roberts. I regretted not allowing more time to look for I suspect there are many other books of great interest. I had a quick but directed conversation with Mr. Horn related to purchasing these books and his goal of "going out of business." He reminded me that he could go out of business tomorrow or in 25 years. I elected not to pursue this line of conversation and chose instead to return to my vehicle and press onward to El Paso.
After checking in at the motel and setting up my computer, I knew it was time to check on my grandmother at the nursing home. I arrived, made the familiar walk through the wheelchairs, listened to the occasional strange comment from the clients, and went to my grandmother's room. Alas, she was asleep. Her nurse and I made a weak attempt to awaken her but to no avail. I hid my disappointment and peripherally wondered how often she could be considered awake and left to seek out a steak and perhaps a little lobster. I stopped at Cattle Baron, ate too much food which I enjoyed greatly, and returned back to my motel room for some reading and computer work.
The next day I woke up early, drank some coffee, read some more of my new John D. MacDonald book, made sure I was prepared and headed to the church now called Exciting Immanuel for the Howard Payne University recognition ceremony for the new graduates. I spoke with my usual mediocre flair, shook many hands, and headed home. The trip home was uneventful other than my quest for a decent sized tree, and listening to some more CDs. I had purchased a new Lionel Richie CD, a Maynard Ferguson collection, and the most enjoyable and gripping musical, Oliver. I arrived home in the evening and after hugging everyone, putting my things away, and relaxing for a minute or two, I headed to bed for a good night's sleep. And that, my friends, was my quick trip to El Paso and back.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Graduation Speech for HPU
Here is a truncated version of a speech for the recent graduates of Howard Payne University in El Paso, Texas.
In 1889, two men with a dream of starting a college in Brownwood, Texas approached a family member who lived in Missouri about helping this new school with a sizable gift. The man who gave the gift was named Edward Howard Payne. The Board of Trustees named the new school after this man. In 1953, Daniel Baker College, another local private school in the area, was consolidated with Howard Payne College which eventually became Howard Payne University in 1974. In its 119 year history, Howard Payne University has had 14,386 graduates of which you are one.
You are now a graduate of Howard Payne University and part of 28% of the country's population with a college degree. You are also most likely between the ages of 40-49, dispelling the myth that most college graduates are in their 20s. You are also most likely married with 2.3 children and you have increased your earning power by almost double (don't forget to remind your employer of this!).
But I have some bad news for you. You are probably not any smarter today than yesterday or even 4 years ago or however long it took you to get a degree. Your brain power, your aptitude, perhaps your skills, and maybe even your interests are probably the same as they were before you got a degree. In addition, your personality and most likely value system has not changed significantly during your pursuit of a degree. Sadly, unless you paid particular attention to one thing, you probably cannot be considered an expert at anything.
Research says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a particular field be it chess, mathematics, science, construction, or music. This comes to an average of 3 hours a day for 10 years or approximately 20 hours per week of dedicated effort to one thing. The greatest pianists violinists, and even bricklayers have spent 10,000 achieving that goal. Since getting a college degree involves a multitude of skills and knowledge in many areas, it is likely that you have not dedicated yourself to 10,000 hours in any one field. Yet research also says that even some dedicated effort to one thing is beneficial to lifelong achievement.
In fact, preparation and tenacious effort seem to pay long range dividends that extend beyond the immediate or obvious tangible gain. Often the years of preparation can result in a brief but immensely successful time of greatness. Probably the prime example of this is the life of Jesus Christ who spent 30 years in preparation for what would be a stunning 3 years of ministry that would ultimately change the world. His time spent in preparation certainly contributed in untold positive ways to his actions in shaping Christianity for the future. He paid the price for excellence and he majored in love, goodness, and sacrifice.
Your time in diligent effort preparing for your future, while it might not have led to the expert level yet, it does give you a degree of respect for your tenacity and yes, your knowledge. What has changed for you is how you are treated and what is expected from you. You might not double your salary tomorrow, but your employer may look at you with more respect. Your diploma might just be a piece of paper but it represents hard work and expectation of excellence. As a graduate of Howard Payne, we ask that you manifest and embody a Christian ethic, a Christian world-view, and mostly a Christ-like faith in the workplace. Best wishes to you as a new Howard Payne University graduate.
In 1889, two men with a dream of starting a college in Brownwood, Texas approached a family member who lived in Missouri about helping this new school with a sizable gift. The man who gave the gift was named Edward Howard Payne. The Board of Trustees named the new school after this man. In 1953, Daniel Baker College, another local private school in the area, was consolidated with Howard Payne College which eventually became Howard Payne University in 1974. In its 119 year history, Howard Payne University has had 14,386 graduates of which you are one.
You are now a graduate of Howard Payne University and part of 28% of the country's population with a college degree. You are also most likely between the ages of 40-49, dispelling the myth that most college graduates are in their 20s. You are also most likely married with 2.3 children and you have increased your earning power by almost double (don't forget to remind your employer of this!).
But I have some bad news for you. You are probably not any smarter today than yesterday or even 4 years ago or however long it took you to get a degree. Your brain power, your aptitude, perhaps your skills, and maybe even your interests are probably the same as they were before you got a degree. In addition, your personality and most likely value system has not changed significantly during your pursuit of a degree. Sadly, unless you paid particular attention to one thing, you probably cannot be considered an expert at anything.
Research says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a particular field be it chess, mathematics, science, construction, or music. This comes to an average of 3 hours a day for 10 years or approximately 20 hours per week of dedicated effort to one thing. The greatest pianists violinists, and even bricklayers have spent 10,000 achieving that goal. Since getting a college degree involves a multitude of skills and knowledge in many areas, it is likely that you have not dedicated yourself to 10,000 hours in any one field. Yet research also says that even some dedicated effort to one thing is beneficial to lifelong achievement.
In fact, preparation and tenacious effort seem to pay long range dividends that extend beyond the immediate or obvious tangible gain. Often the years of preparation can result in a brief but immensely successful time of greatness. Probably the prime example of this is the life of Jesus Christ who spent 30 years in preparation for what would be a stunning 3 years of ministry that would ultimately change the world. His time spent in preparation certainly contributed in untold positive ways to his actions in shaping Christianity for the future. He paid the price for excellence and he majored in love, goodness, and sacrifice.
Your time in diligent effort preparing for your future, while it might not have led to the expert level yet, it does give you a degree of respect for your tenacity and yes, your knowledge. What has changed for you is how you are treated and what is expected from you. You might not double your salary tomorrow, but your employer may look at you with more respect. Your diploma might just be a piece of paper but it represents hard work and expectation of excellence. As a graduate of Howard Payne, we ask that you manifest and embody a Christian ethic, a Christian world-view, and mostly a Christ-like faith in the workplace. Best wishes to you as a new Howard Payne University graduate.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Acknowledging Greatness in Music
A recent post and subsequent comment has shaken me up a little and made me do some further examination and careful rumination on the issue of respecting and acknowledging the remarkable qualities of certain composers and certain works of music. The author of the comment related great music to great literature. The argument seems to be that by blurring the new with the old or by not making a distinction between popular, entertainment music for the masses and more elite music for the educated or the enlightened, we then somehow denigrate or lessen the music of the masters. Yet, logically, this does not add up for me.
The eclectic practice of using all kinds of music or literature from great to average or even less than average simply reaches a broader spectrum of people. It is ultimately time and the collective acknowledgment of experts that determine excellence and quality in music or literature. This makes it difficult, maybe impossible, to make a bold statement of something being "great" by historical standards of greatness that just came out recently. While I believe Philip Roth's book "The Human Stain" is indeed great and will withstand the test of time for excellence, in truth, I cannot determine that factor due to its relatively short lifespan. Yet my saying that I also enjoyed reading Dean Koontz' "The Good Guy" does not lessen the value of "The Human Stain," nor does it lessen "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens. By the same token, my recent reading of a John MacDonald novel from 1985 cannot be compared to reading Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther." Both of these books were meaningful to me, but it is easy to give literary credence to Goethe's work over MacDonald's work by virtue of its place in time and its literary achievements not to mention its remarkable emotional depth that seems to stay active within the human psyche.
Can I or should I attempt to compare and contrast the music of Stevie Wonder with that of Johannes Brahms or the rock opera "Tommy" with the operas of Mozart? The musical depth aside from any textual implications is radically different upon a precursory glance. But a closer look reveals some fundamentally unifying elements in areas of harmony, melody, and even formal structure. A basic Schenkerian analysis of prolongation and reduction ultimately concludes cultivated music and music for mass consumption are not radically different from each other. With this truth, however, must come some sort of discernment between the two. I recall the odd analysis of Clementi melodies and Beethoven melodies. Clementi, whose reputation seems to rest solely on a few small piano pieces used for didactic purposes for student pianists, wrote beautiful melodies supported by idiomatic musical phrasing with subtle and charming moments of creativity and originality. Beethoven, similarly, composed nice and shapely melodies with underlying harmonic surprises not so different but certainly more colorful than Clementi. But, for the most part, the two composers approach melody in a similar fashion. So why do we acknowledge Beethoven as a grand master of composition, and Clementi as a relatively unknown composer of pedagogical piano music?
The difference lies in Beethoven's departure from traditional and expected forms and Beethoven's inventive and emotionally impacting development sections. He took the tools at his disposal and created something new and vital, something that continues to make a difference in the world through its complexity and power. Like an artist who with the same colors and canvas available to him as any other artist, asserts his individuality and creates something new and unique, so can a musician using the same available notes and rhythms invent a musical world that is fresh, expressive, original, and emotionally powerful.
Since it is combination of extensive time and the qualified opinion of trained expertise that determines superb art and music, it is not justifiable to meld or compare the music of Beethoven and the music of Lionel Richie. While each has its place and its purpose and each elicits a different kind of response, we do not have the luxury of 200 years to examine the music of Lionel Richie. But, at the same time, it is narrow and backwards to avoid music of today simply because it is too new for qualified assessment. Remember that Beethoven was once new as well.
I elect, therefore, to pursue truth by acknowledging the greatness of the past, by learning from the masters, and by recognizing the consistent reaction of great music. At the same time, woe is the musician who rejects the new automatically without considering its role in contemporary society and more importantly its potential to uphold the test of time. Very few love the music of Mozart as much as I, and there is little doubt as to its place in the college curriculum. Yet, maybe there is something magical about the music of Stevie Wonder and maybe it is worth including in the curriculum. Only time will tell the ultimate story.
The eclectic practice of using all kinds of music or literature from great to average or even less than average simply reaches a broader spectrum of people. It is ultimately time and the collective acknowledgment of experts that determine excellence and quality in music or literature. This makes it difficult, maybe impossible, to make a bold statement of something being "great" by historical standards of greatness that just came out recently. While I believe Philip Roth's book "The Human Stain" is indeed great and will withstand the test of time for excellence, in truth, I cannot determine that factor due to its relatively short lifespan. Yet my saying that I also enjoyed reading Dean Koontz' "The Good Guy" does not lessen the value of "The Human Stain," nor does it lessen "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens. By the same token, my recent reading of a John MacDonald novel from 1985 cannot be compared to reading Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther." Both of these books were meaningful to me, but it is easy to give literary credence to Goethe's work over MacDonald's work by virtue of its place in time and its literary achievements not to mention its remarkable emotional depth that seems to stay active within the human psyche.
Can I or should I attempt to compare and contrast the music of Stevie Wonder with that of Johannes Brahms or the rock opera "Tommy" with the operas of Mozart? The musical depth aside from any textual implications is radically different upon a precursory glance. But a closer look reveals some fundamentally unifying elements in areas of harmony, melody, and even formal structure. A basic Schenkerian analysis of prolongation and reduction ultimately concludes cultivated music and music for mass consumption are not radically different from each other. With this truth, however, must come some sort of discernment between the two. I recall the odd analysis of Clementi melodies and Beethoven melodies. Clementi, whose reputation seems to rest solely on a few small piano pieces used for didactic purposes for student pianists, wrote beautiful melodies supported by idiomatic musical phrasing with subtle and charming moments of creativity and originality. Beethoven, similarly, composed nice and shapely melodies with underlying harmonic surprises not so different but certainly more colorful than Clementi. But, for the most part, the two composers approach melody in a similar fashion. So why do we acknowledge Beethoven as a grand master of composition, and Clementi as a relatively unknown composer of pedagogical piano music?
The difference lies in Beethoven's departure from traditional and expected forms and Beethoven's inventive and emotionally impacting development sections. He took the tools at his disposal and created something new and vital, something that continues to make a difference in the world through its complexity and power. Like an artist who with the same colors and canvas available to him as any other artist, asserts his individuality and creates something new and unique, so can a musician using the same available notes and rhythms invent a musical world that is fresh, expressive, original, and emotionally powerful.
Since it is combination of extensive time and the qualified opinion of trained expertise that determines superb art and music, it is not justifiable to meld or compare the music of Beethoven and the music of Lionel Richie. While each has its place and its purpose and each elicits a different kind of response, we do not have the luxury of 200 years to examine the music of Lionel Richie. But, at the same time, it is narrow and backwards to avoid music of today simply because it is too new for qualified assessment. Remember that Beethoven was once new as well.
I elect, therefore, to pursue truth by acknowledging the greatness of the past, by learning from the masters, and by recognizing the consistent reaction of great music. At the same time, woe is the musician who rejects the new automatically without considering its role in contemporary society and more importantly its potential to uphold the test of time. Very few love the music of Mozart as much as I, and there is little doubt as to its place in the college curriculum. Yet, maybe there is something magical about the music of Stevie Wonder and maybe it is worth including in the curriculum. Only time will tell the ultimate story.
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