Re: [OT]: Heritage [WAS] Re: musicmadewithlinux: Mozart Symphony #40

[Paul Davis <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

cultural heritage isn't about preserving the past at the expense of the present day culture. its about retaining cultural memory that gives whatever the present day culture is doing some context. the efforts to create culture devoid of historical context (i'm looking at you, adorno) have failed to offer much to most of those who might receive it. you need that cultural memory in order move - not necessarily forward, but just move, move in any direction. if you don't understand where you are, your chances of going anywhere interesting other than by pure chance are not very good. 

when people, when cultures build *objects* to signify things of importance to them (for whatever reason), it tends to follow that if you want to understand them, and thus to some extent, to understand yourself, some kind of appreciation for those objects is necessary. you need cultural heritage to help appreciate those objects, and paradoxically, those objects are part of the same cultural heritage that offers some chance of appreciation.

On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 5:59 AM, Neil C Smith <neil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 18 December 2012 08:48, Lorenzo Sutton <lorenzofsutton@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Cultural heritage is going to pieces in many places due to the fact that in
> the current (bank-driven) ultra-utilitarian society where culture and
> humanities are considered 'ephemeral',

If only that was true.  Ephemeral things are not that easy to
monetize.  And cultural heritage is such a spurious notion anyway - it
is about objects (by which I include musical scores) devoid of
context, and rather too much like taxidermy.  It's also rather a new
concept.  A favourite quote of mine from an article by Simon Emmerson
-

"We should not forget that the phrase avant-garde was first used by
Henri de Saint-Simon in
France (1825) at almost exactly the same time as Mendelssohn's
inauguration of the museum
culture in western concert music with the revival of Bach's Matthew
Passion (1829) - the past
and the future at once, western civilisation's triumphal claim to
conquest over all time, let
alone all space."

Best wishes,

Neil


--
Neil C Smith
Artist : Technologist : Adviser
http://neilcsmith.net

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