Re: Lilypond lobbying?

[David Kastrup]

Joseph Wakeling <address@hidden> writes:

> On 08/19/2011 09:47 AM, Henning Hraban Ramm wrote:
>
>> (Why does anyone care about a concerts for six organs at all? I'm
>> just a humble folk musician, but I know there are great organs around
>> where you don't need six organists playing at once. I can't imagine
>> there's any musical advantage of six small organs over a good, big
>> one...)
>
> There are things you can do with twelve hands, that you can't with two
> ...

There are diminishing returns.  There are rather few concerts for
several pianos, and those are easier to come by than several organs.

I play in an accordion orchestra.  Music written for accordion orchestra
uses just the right hand notes (leaving the left for working the
bellows) and is written to support standard registrations and ambitus.
Apart from the bass accordion, any instrument can play any voice, and
the instruments "ideally" sound all the same.  "Large" accordion
orchestras are augmented by an overbearing monotonous drummer and some
simplistic monophonic synthesizers from the 70s in accordion form
factor ("Electronium").

The resulting homogenous sound quality and dynamic differentiation
(usually ranging from fff to ffff) makes accordion orchestras a mostly
incestuous musical enterprise where the audience is mostly recruited
from people who can't avoid being there (like at some opening) or are in
some relation to the artists making it hard to be excused, but then they
usually have undergone years of desensitizing, anyway.

If you want to instill people with interest for the instrument and its
use, you play the instrument solo (of course using the left hand as
well) or in heterogenous ensembles with other instruments.  In that
manner, the expressiveness possible by fine bellows control does not
average out in a degree where you could equally well play with a
constant-pressure air supply like that of an organ.

In a similar vein, people prefer hearing, say, a four part fugue played
by a skilled organist with both hands and feet over having the work
split over six different people.  Never mind that things get easier for
the composer and executioners.

-- 
David Kastrup