Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   JB>  "Great" orchestral works in the day, were intended to be   
   JB>  as disposable as last weeks news.   
      
   AH>  Yes... and the same also applies to various other types   
   AH>  of music.  I heard that a patron of J.S. Bach, for   
   AH>  example, insisted on a new chorale every week.  It seems   
   AH>  the desire for novelty has been a factor for a long time.   
      
   JB>  I lumped everything with an orchestra into "orchestral".   
   JB>  I guess opera needs stage direction also, but to my limited   
   JB>  exposure it's the same boat.   
      
      
              I'd say the basic principle applies either way.  Opera trickled   
   down to the masses as operetta (e.g. Gilbert & Sullivan) and later as the   
   "Broadway" musical (e.g. Rogers & Hammerstein).  Now, when did you last hear   
   either?  :-))   
      
      
      
   JB>  Now that you mention it, works of a choir   
      
      
              A cautionary note... I take it chorales were not intended to be   
   sung only by a choir.  Martin Luther evidently had the idea that the   
   congregation of the church should be allowed to sing along.  Good pedagogical   
   strategy....  :-)   
      
      
      
   JB>  would also apply to the "pop" category of yore. B-]   
      
      
              Uh... yes & no.  Until relatively recently, the vast majority of   
   the common people were illiterate.  The "popular" music of earlier times is   
   largely unknown to us now because the gramophone had yet to be invented & the   
   few folks who understood how to write it down were seldom motivated to do so.    
   (I imagine you & I & Dallas & Richard would have made a bare living as   
   wandering minstrels in those days!)  Some of it, however, is still in use for   
   various reasons.  One is that familiar tunes were often used to accompany   
   religious poetry... another is that years ago the Lord of the Manor was   
   usually expected to pay for a house of worship for his own family as well as   
   for the serfs who lived on his estate. In my irreverent "1066 and All That"   
   interpretation, Bach had to keep coming up with new hymn tunes so his wealthy   
   patron would not suffer the embarrassment of falling asleep in church.    
   Certain folk songs & hymns may have survived because they came to the   
   attention of or were composed by someone who had the skills to pass them   
   along.  The average person may be unable to read four-part harmony as the   
   choir sees it, but chances are they'll recognize the soprano line.....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AH>  To this day, folks in the entertainment business say "you're   
   AH>  only as good as your last [gig]".  But once in awhile a song   
   AH>  which has dropped off the Top Ten list will eventually   
   AH>  resurface as a Golden Oldie or whatever.  I had a Beatles   
   AH>  poster in my band classroom after the initial excitement   
   AH>  had subsided, and was often asked "Who are the Beatles?"   
      
   JB>  They did it their way!    
      
      
              Uh-huh.  There's a senior citizen in our community band who comes   
   to life when we play songs from the 1920's.  I come to life when we do stuff   
   where all one has to do is read the notes (baroque & classical era).    
   Different folks have different talents.  My attitude is "I am who I am... take   
   it or leave it!" Some folks actually like me that way.  If the younger crowd   
   views things from a different perspective, they can make their own unique   
   contribution too....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)