Major and Minor Musicians

I will always love major musicians.  Mr Mozart, of course, stands well above all the others, but who have been the major musicians since his compositional and personal performance heyday?  How do you define the qualities of a major musician?  Are there any minor musicians...

...from the past who deserve to be treated as major ones in the 21st century?

Anyone with any intuitive musicianship at all will always love the music of Mozart.  To love music is to love the experience of music, whether as a composer, a performer or as a listener.  The cultural influences in our lives shape the sorts of music likely to touch our thoughts, emotions and memories at one time or another. Do you love being with people who share the same feelings as you do about particular pieces of music?  Why do you love the music you love?  And will you always love the music you enjoy now?

Perhaps you have found that your feelings about the people in your life have partly been shaped by your experiences of certain pieces of music, the voice of a favourite singer, or even the qualities of an instrumentalist or instrument.  Vocal music may touch your heart more than instrumental music, unless you are a reasonably proficient instrumentalist yourself.  A melody, whether vocal or instrumental, may be something you can identify with strongly, or maybe your sense of identity and being are reflected in the words within a song's lyrics.

Talent is like a flower

A great musician is one who can touch the hearts of many and make the world appear to be timeless for a few ethereal moments.  A great musician will influence other musicians, whether minor or major, as well as people with very little musical ability at all.  A great musician may not necessarily make a beautiful sound in the view of persons who are not appreciably and appreciatively touched by that musician's music, but any great musician will be able to inspire some people to perceive the beauty in the world where it may not have been seen, or heard, before.

I do not have any taste at all for the genre of country music, yet I am deeply respectful of an artist, lyricist and composer like Miss Dolly Parton.  I do not have much time at all for the melodramatic, repetitive, sentimental and formulaic aspects of most forms of popular music, or even folk music.  Yet I can respect any major musical talent when I hear one in the right context, with the right music and the right words.

Miss Whitney Houston was a major musician even though I will always prefer to listen to classically trained singers.  Miss Houston's vocal abilities influenced many others, and although I find the belting style of performance to be exceedingly unpleasant, and of concern considering the damage such a technique can do to any voice, I believe anyone who can sing without accompaniment and keep in perfect tune, even when the orchestra begins, deserves everyone's respect.

Female hormones can have a detrimental effect on a woman's vocal chords as she matures, though deliberately damaging one's health is obviously inadvisable whatever the circumstances, and whatever method that abuse might take, and whatever one's gender.  I am appreciative of all singers who can sing three octaves in tune, with good phrasing, strength of tone throughout their vocal range, who have excellent diction, who look after their health, and have poise, grace and elegance unless another type of portrayal is advisable for a performance as a dramatic character.

The unfortunate reality of popular music, in my view, is that vocalists are frequently hidden behind microphones, regardless of the power of their voices.  We cannot see their expressions properly behind the technology, and perhaps cannot even hear what they are supposed to sound like.  The amplification is obviously necessary when audience members (and minor musicians) intrude with a range of displays of hideous screaming, wailing and shouting.  And the engineering methods of the sound recording industry can make our expectations of live performances somewhat unrealistic at times, even with classical music recordings.

Hence my Grammy thoughts now are mainly with all the major classical musicians who have been nominated for awards this year.  Such musicians may frequently perform and record very old music, or music in an unpopular style, or in unfamiliar languages, but they are influenced by a long heritage, and will add their influence to that heritage for many centuries to come.  Many of those musicians are familiar with live performances without the benefit (or detriment) of microphones, unless for the purposes of posterity.


Mr Mozart and two musical ladies


Mr Google has been unable to find any recordings of Miss Houston singing the music of Mr Mozart, though she did apparently record a tune called Queen of the Night.  I discovered that information from a new acquaintance of mine, Dr Duck Duck Go.


Mr Mozart and another musical lady


Miss Houston may have had some coloratura abilities, and her influence on other vocalists has meant that such techniques are now quite commonly attempted in popular music.  This style, of course, has quite a few precedents.


Mr Vivaldi and a few musical persons

A major musical lady who sometimes portrays a male person

Mr Mozart and another great musical lady

Grammy Awards 2012


Well, that is all from me for another day so I shall leave you with these musical people.