NMC Appeal

[Dave2002]

Simon appears to believe in a ranking of activities and causes. Whichever one heads the list must get all the attention and resources. We don't know if the starving children of Africa or India are at the top of his list. By his own principles it must surely follow that writing notes to this board and indulging in seemingly pointless exchanges trumps the starving children, unless of course Simon is a hypocrite, and doesn't act according to the principles he appears to espouse.

Others seem more capable of workiing with a fuzzier kind of logic (not perhaps fuzzy logic) in which some sort of proportional effort is allocated to different causes. This opens up the possibility of acting to support more than one cause, allbeit perhaps to a lesser extent. If we take Simon's reasoning to the extreme we could infer that he spends all his time and effort working for the children he has claimed support for. I suspect he doesn't.

[amateur51]

From you, that's rich!

But I see you have been supported by GongGong! Oh no! All this intellectual skill ranged against me...

I thought you disapproved of ad hom attacks, Simon (see House Rules)

What's happened to your legendary ratiocination

[amateur51]

Ooh, I don't know - that's a gig I'd give good money to see!

[amateur51]

"One" chooses"? Yes, your weak and puerile attempt at a defence sounds as thought there is in reality only "one" charitable donor who is faced with the difficult and painful decision as to whether to give a homeless person a square meal or help to fund recordings of Barrett and Birtwistle (or Elgar)...

He loves Lachenmann and recommends it when 'in need of a lift'

[amateur51]

You can give to more than one, of course, but what you give to one you can't give to another. Which is my point. QED.

Are you building the GiftAid tax recovery into your calculation there, Simon?

Always assuming that you pay UK tax, of course

[amateur51]

There are homeless people in the country: our priority would be to help them, not facilitate the self-glory of a few more luvvies.

There are more homeless people in towns and cities but I know that you rarely go there

[Bryn]

I thought you disapproved of ad hom attacks, Simon (see House Rules)

What's happened to your legendary ratiocination

Perhaps Simon had genuinely recognised the reality of what he was seeking to take on?

[ahinton]

He loves Lachenmann and recommends it when 'in need of a lift'

So presumably he takes some with him in order to assist him when going to the top floor of John Lewis; well, for that one has perhaps to credit that with a certain originality, if little else...

[ahinton]

Ooh, I don't know - that's a gig I'd give good money to see!

As long as you give it to NMC...(!)...

[ahinton]

I'm disgusted

My knowledge of English geography is evidently quite woefully lacking; I had no idea that Tunbridge Wells was in the Peak District.

the self-glory of a few more luvvies.

Would you care to identify why it is that you equate the recording of a composer's music with that composer's "self-glorification"? and, while you're about it, might you also deign to provide a credible, clear and relevant definition of "luvvies" in this specific context?

Thank you in advance.

[Simon]

It is superbly constructed, magnificently timed and overwhelming in its stark bleakness.

Well, I was actually thinking of the sounds that I linked to, FHG, rather than anything by Sir Harrison. I haven't heard Gawain so I can't comment on whether I rate it or not.

However, I'd still like to ask you this about it (Gawain): Is it beautiful music?

Of course, if we had a Tax system less geared towards rewarding the greedy ...

No arguments there from me.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The very idea that one of NMC's more recent appeals for financial support might intentionally or even unintentionally risk depriving a homeless person a square meal is not merely absurd but also as disgusting and patronising as Simon's remarks. I'm sorry; that sounds very rude and I hate to appear rude to anyone - but I really do not know quite what else to say in this context...

There is no need to apologize for such a feeling, and I am genuinely distraught that what I wrote conveyed the impression that such was the idea I wished to express: it wasn't. I had hoped to pick up Simon's suggestion that a donation to NMC was an alternative to contributing to charities that help the homeless, and to counter that this "either/or" was a false (or, at least, misleading) pair of "alternatives". Those who subscribed to EMI's recordings of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas or Wolf lieder projects in the '30s (another time of obscenely high homeless figures) were in the same position as those of us who support NMC in their publication of these and other recordings - not a matter, as was suggested, of funding "a bunch of luvvies", but of making these works available to the public.

Hence my reference to Tax: surely it offends no one to suggest that the people who can afford to spend £6500 a night to stay in Claridge's could also afford to pay extra duty on their Hotel bills, revenue from which could be earmarked for assisting the homeless?

My sincere apologies for my clumsy communication earlier and my best wishes.

[Nick Armstrong]

Cheerful little thread, this, isn't it....

[MrGongGong]

Today I was listening to the NMC recording of Jonathan Harvey's Body Mandala without Colin's tireless work in establishing NMC many great things would be unavailable to us all.
The "with us , or against us" kind of nonsense is just a sign of insecurity
Would we all give up music to eliminate world hunger ? probably yes BUT that's NOT the choice on offer at all ..........

It's a classic "Billy Graham" (remember him ? ) tactic.......

Would you
a: Like to suffer eternal torment ?
or
b: embrace Jesus ?

Other options seemingly unavailable !!!

There are more possibilities than one might at first imagine
some folk are simply miserable and like to spread it about ................ and now it's rabbit stew time (Batemans) to NMC

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

However, I'd still like to ask you this about it (Gawain): Is it beautiful music?

Oh yes; the seductions of Gawain by the Lady Hauptdesert, the compassion of the Green Knight when he refuses to take revenge on Gawain, the despair Gawain feels at his "failure" - despair heightened by everyone in Camelot calling him a hero - these are all accompanied by gentle, (com)passionate Music. But it's also ferociously exciting Music: the foreboding crescendo that accompanies the Green Knight's ride to Camelot (seen by the audience - the characters in Camelot are oblivious); the fury of the hunting scenes that are juxtaposed with the seduction scenes; Gawain's dangerous ride North and his return to Camelot - similar Music, but determined in the first, dejected in the second. Great stuff; people really should have greater access to it in order to be able to experience and assess it for themselves.