The Story Of Music -Howard Goodall

[michael sam wild]

His series on BBC TV and book of the same name (Chatto & Windus 2013) are very stmulating. I was irritated by the western perspective and the fact that , with evidence of ancient instruments like 40,000 year old flutes , people have been making music for a long time. Even without written evidence i'm sure anthrpology would reveal a lot of polyphony and harmony in 'primitive' communities. It felt like a classical composers take on musical evolution.

[Ann-p]

Michael, I concur! There is a post here recently about possibly the oldest written music, runic symbols or similar. Nothing about early flute and recorder type wind instruments from China and other ancient cultures either. There are cave paintings of people with musical instruments too. The whole area was just given lip service I feel, sad as it is probably the most intruiging area of music as some things are only just coming to light I hope we are not going to be subjected to a whole programme later of his rather boring choral music!

[spindizzy]

His series on BBC TV and book of the same name (Chatto & Windus 2013) are very stmulating. I was irritated by the western perspective and the fact that , with evidence of ancient instruments like 40,000 year old flutes , people have been making music for a long time. Even without written evidence i'm sure anthrpology would reveal a lot of polyphony and harmony in 'primitive' communities. It felt like a classical composers take on musical evolution.

 

I heard an interview on this, and he did say that he'd opted to stick mostly to Western Music because of the time constraints..... If he'd had twice as long he would have been more inclusive. He'd tried to focus on the points in time at which changes happened.

Edited January 31, 2013 by spindizzy

[Chris Timson]

Good programme, I thought, but as ever with people with a classical backgound he has no idea of the scope and depth of the music people who are not part of the musical establishment of the time can produce.

 

Chris

[hjcjones]

I surmise that the plainchant tradition of the monasteries was very conservative and resistant to innovation, especially given the size of the repertoire they had to learn by heart. It wouldn't surprise me if the introduction of harmony and other changes came from the popular music of the time, rather than being invented by a few individuals as he seemed to suggest.

[hjcjones]

His very opening statement, to the effect that until recently most people would only hear music on a few occasions, was so obviously nonsense that I nearly stopped watching there and then. He quite obviously completely disregarded the idea that people in the middle ages might be making their own music.

[Rod]

Howard, Access to music for the general population in the middle ages must of course have been severely restricted when compared to the saturation, push-button, round-the-clock availability of music for all today. I guess that is what Goodall had in mind.

[michael sam wild]

People sing all the time in 'unsophisticated ' communities just look at the way the striking miners in South Africa recently, put every event into song as a mode of solidarity. Work songs have to be communal, I'd love to have heard a Stonehenge building shanty or a mammoth skinning waulking song!

[Roger Gawley]

Some time ago there was a photograph of Howard Goodall holding an English concertina. He was part of a group at a Folkworks Durham Summer School. Anyone else remember this photograph? Anyone have any idea where to find it now?

[spindizzy]

http://www.geocities.ws/ourfolkworks/goodall.jpg

[Chris Timson]

Thinking of blackmailing him, then?

 

Chris

[Roger Gawley]

Now, there's an idea. Reality is more boring: NECP were ranting about the evils of Goodall and I said that the man was not all bad (he also wrote the Red Dwarf theme which makes him a hero in my son's book). And South Shields think highly of him.

 

Many thanks to spindizzy for locating this image.

[michael sam wild]

Eddie Izzard was much more open to the music of the ancestors on his nice two parter on human origins. He went along with the songs and dance of the people he met and picked out a version of Onward Christian soldiers in a rainforest pigmy group's hunting song and sang Frere Jaques in a French cave whilst standing by the Ice Age paintings! I'd like to see Eddies Story of Music!