Re: [Pen-l] Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and the perils of success

[Shane Mage <shmage@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 26, 2009, at 11:57 AM, Jim Devine wrote:

me:

Great article! I think it's quite common for working-class (or even

middle-class) musicians to fall apart after they are catapulted to

stardom.

Shane:

One of the spectacular differences between "classical" and "pop" musicians.

 Mozart and Menuhin and Sarah Chang were "catapulted to stardom" at

even younger ages than MJ (let alone EP).

There isn't as much money, glitz, or public display in classical music
as in pop, right?

All of which shape an "idiotic," psychologically destructive, self centeredness.

Classical musicians, in contrast, are by their very essence part of a cosmopolitan, supportive, family; and from their earliest years they know themselves to be part of a many-centuried tradition that will sustain itself and grow as long as human beings remain civilized.  It surely was some twisted perception of this that caused the sick mind of Mao-Tse-Tung to unleash his pogrom against classical music--something not even Stalin would have dared to imagine.

Shane Mage

This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it

always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,

kindling in measures and going out in measures."

Herakleitos of Ephesos

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