Books in the news; Music and People

Robert Oram on books in the news. A quick look at newly published material and books of current entrust your host Robert Oram director for public services at the University of Illinois Library. Ed Rollins new book music in people published by George resilin continues in part in much the same vein as his earlier Paris and New York diaries the story of volumes are excerpts from his bare chested below the belt highly personal diaries in which he developed an enigmatic epigrammatic style if you can people he showed he can also be a pretty straightforward writer. One of some grace and unsweet reason he tells us in his preface of his collection of essays purposes to attitudes of one person to the artistic tone of the fairly recent past and of the present. The first attitude was only objective is embodied in a series of articles reviews dealing with personalities or trends. These are interspersed with interludes unquestionably subjective derived from. He says my diary random notes sometimes forming postscript to the essays more often taking their own disordered path that path he continues is the problematic one of the artist today particular the artist who isn't myself. I will say that once he's tied to a concrete thought where he must review occur before much repeating music for the general public

the resulting work is an entertaining one in the random thoughts following turned out to have a zip of their own despite or perhaps because of their very fragmented Di Resta prose. I recounted two references to that fatal attraction his age for a birthday to catastrophe time with these minor depressions spells aside there's a lot of good reading in this book take his review of The Beatles more or less recent album Sergeant Pepper. So Mr. Rahman his best exaggerated style. I never go to concerts concerts anymore and I don't know anyone who does and I do often attend what used to be called the oven guard recycles and inevitably I look around and wonder what am I doing what am I learning and he goes on to say that perhaps he goes to justify the joys of resentment or to steal an idea or two. Meanwhile he says the absent artists are only playing records they are we acting again finally do something that they no longer find countries reacting to what went to the Beatles of course and he goes on to say the Beatles proved to be a healthy event in music and by healthy humans alive and inspired by music and generally jazz but Chamber Opera symphony in short all music. And after several pages of argumentation to

show us why he sums up by saying that the art of song seems to be transferred in the legal means of the concert stage to the Beatles the finest communicable music of our time. The word song is important here for he uses it to mean what we used to call the leader or art song and since the musician of today did not used to desire to work in that medium he says the song is revived not through the suave innovations of our sophisticated composers of which Mr. Oren was one of course but from the old fashioned learning exercises of a gang of kids in the Beatles. No it's quite sagely The Beatles are good even though everyone knows they are good witches say in spite of those cliches of the under 30s about the killing in new social need our need for the Beatles he says a new social logical nor new but artistic and old specifically a renewal a renewal of pleasure. Read further in this essay written to refute the now famous article Richard Goldstein in the Village Voice if you are as a listener not an I'll convince Mr. Rogers of rightness and fairness I later essay notes the next Beatles album was as he phrases it to civilize and they have become hung up on their own symbolism. The rest of the book is less analytical some interesting

personal and critical notes and records and down I can foresee an article on Ezra Pound as a composer and other essays which I want. John Cocteau and my brother Graham was a splendid forty six page diary article called making Miss Julie a full length opera which she based on playing Miss Julie is apre with the night for New York City Center was produced in the early 60s to mixed reviews in his room shows by quoting two mixed up reviewers. Some excellent red hot passages set down during the heat and disappoint one of those first rehearsals and performances. Another typical essay setting was elliptical diary interlude style the series of deadpan notes taken after I've been to the White House where a section of culture called the Festival of Arts remarked that despite the celebrities it seemed a convention of classy salesman. The end of the book we are treated to a line Jaap of eight and eight page complete list of Mr. Obama's own music up to date. He's given us presumably in the belief that no one else to write about him he might as well write about himself. You can people by Ned wrote.

Books and the news is prepared and presented by Robert Oran and sponsored by the Illinois State Library. This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.