[quote="GoblinScore
So, now feeling guilt that I dissed Rozsa quote]
Oh dear, I am sorry you see it that way. I never read your remarks as being disrespectful in any way. If anything, your remarks showed a close familiarity with Rozsa's body of work. Familiarity with Rozsa's symphony, as you indicated, is not the kind of knowledge that someone with a superficial acquaintance, with Rozsa, would possess. Your opinion is entirely valid. I value it because it forced me to address my own relationship to the composer's music. I thought you were seeking feedback, and that is all I sought to do, using the vehicle of my own experience of Rozsa. We humans are complex and multi-faceted and I try to respect that. I would add that being critical of what you love is probably a useful intellectual exercise. Certainly great human teachers, like Buddha, encouraged their followers to criticize them. It is healthy.
You are right. He can be temperamental (we probably need to talk about how to understand that). Certainly he had a snappy, sardonic wit that enabled him to survive, and thrive, in a studio system that he often expressed disdain for.
My own response to Rozsa is entirely subjective. I don't believe in objectivity when it comes to talking about music, unless you are about leaching the life out of the listening experience. Rozsa could be temperamental. I can be temperamental. I suspect it might be this personal trait that attracts me to Rozsa's music, in the first place. I think it was Page Cook who first commented, in my experience, on the sadness that is in Rozsa. The comment provided me with insight and may help to explain why some would take the position that an afternoon of sustained Rozsa listening could be quite depressing. (Note: I am not suggesting that Rozsa was a one emotion composer. Clearly not the case, as his music probably runs the gambit of fifty, or so, human emotions. Lots of joy there, too.)
BB
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