[pianotech] Virgil Smith

Horace Greeley hgreeley at sonic.net
Tue Sep 28 14:32:30 MDT 2010


Hi, Tom, Kent, All,

Yes, I've found myself thinking about Bernstein, and for the same 
reasons.  Watch the faces in the audience as Bernstein talks at the 
Young People's Concerts or the talks at Harvard.

Closer to home, I think Franz falls into a similar category.  Like 
Virgil, much of what Franz has to say lies in the subtext of the 
words that come out of his mouth.    To really "get" what they talk 
about, one has to work to get inside their heads...why are they 
saying this particular thing in this particular way?  It's something 
like learning another language.  It's one thing to be able to 
converse, it's quite another to understand the de facto meaning of 
idiomatic expressions.

Well...another Jahrzeit to light.  May Virgil's memory be for a 
blessing for us all; and may those of us who remember him strive to 
live our own lives and work with the same level of dedication and honesty.

Peace.

Horace


At 03:46 AM 9/28/2010, Kent Swafford wrote:
>On Sep 28, 2010, at 5:02 AM, Tom Servinsky wrote:
>
>>Virgil wasn't always able to articulate his perceptions in an 
>>understandable platform for others to follow. For that I felt he 
>>was unfairly chastised for choice of words rather than the body of 
>>work which he demonstrated well.
>
>Yes, Virgil was a great treasure. Your comment brings to mind 
>Leonard Bernstein talking about Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, a piece 
>classical music purists seem to love to hate. Bernstein said words 
>to the effect that people always talk about what is wrong with the 
>Rhapsody and miss all the wonderful things that are right about the 
>piece. Same with Virgil, I believe.
>
>Kent Swafford
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