tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6226694813149396570..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Signor Claudio Monteverdi and the Historical ContextBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-7973044937521547352017-03-11T20:57:46.173-06:002017-03-11T20:57:46.173-06:00I had a friend who was quite convinced that music ...I had a friend who was quite convinced that music has been in decline since 1733, the death of François Couperin. Sometimes I think that maybe he was right...Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-90031545362442320182017-03-11T19:53:42.192-06:002017-03-11T19:53:42.192-06:00Artistically speaking, its been steadily downhill ...Artistically speaking, its been steadily downhill since the end of the baroque, or whatever one wants to call it. Morally-speaking, the rot of commerce has been eroding human character a few centuries longer.<br /><br />The 16th-century "ars perfecta" was just the latest of several musical renaissances in Europe. For example, the "ars nova" of the 14th century had replaced the "ars antiqua" of the 13th, which itself replaced the music of the "little renaissance" of the 12th century....<br /><br />Great artists like Monteverdi and Bach are the exceptional counter-examples that cannot hold back the larger tidal forces, over which music is only the frothing of sound: If there is any generalization that can hold over the centuries (and this is expressed in music as much as any other social phenomena), it is that western culture has grown increasingly vulgar and lascivious, bringing us to the popular culture of today that serves as certain warning the world will end very soon.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.com