The Dance-Chant Continuum
Ezra Pound once said "Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance." He said a lot of other ignorant things, but most of those had to do with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
As a chant man, I spotted the error right away. Dance is not the ideal condition to which all music aspires. Dance is one end of a continuum; on the other end is chant. The good/bad (or as Pound would specify, vigor/atrophy) continuum lies on an orthogonal axis. So let's not get our continua* confused, people.
Here's another quote that shows how a dance man's bias leads to misunderstanding:
Why should the Devil have all the good music?"As the following chart illustrates, he has only half.
| Chant | Dance |
| Vocal | Instrumental |
| Cerebral | Visceral |
| God | The Devil |
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Anything Staring Jackie Chan |
| Joyful | Happy |
| Harmony | Rhythm |
| John Tavener | Michael Daugherty |
| Greek | Roman |
| Hammer Dulcimer | Banjo |
| The Listeners | God's Judgment on a Wicked Bishop |
| Blues | Jazz |
| Nordic | Mediterranean |
| Drum & Bugle Corps | Marching Band |
| Abbott | Costello |
| Inspiring | Exciting |
| Boring | Embarrassing |
| Apollo | Dionysus |
| "Oh well. Here's my talisman, you change your mind, give me a chant." -D'Hoffryn, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997 | "Never trust spiritual leader who cannot dance." -Mr. Miyagi, The Next Karate Kid, 1994 |
| Terry Teachout | Michael Blowhard |
Where are you on the Dance-Chant Continuum? What other pairs illustrate the extremes?
*Yes! Another one! He shoots, he scores!
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
1 Comments:
Dear Fred,
I have a deep concern that i must voice to you.
I have noticed that you occasionally mention your "wife-0-sphere." I assume she/he is not a figment of your imagination. My concern is this, Fred, you seem to have much time available to write on your blog, (especially after reading this post) so i only hope that you are not neglecting your wife-0-sphere. Not that i don't enjoy reading all of your many posts, but what about your wife? Do spend more time on your blog than with your wife?
I am merely a concerned fan of the fredosphere!
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