"[Composer Rinaldo Di Capua] thinks composers have nothing to do now but to write themselves and others over again, and the only chance they have for obtaining the reputation of novelty or invention must arise either from the ignorance or want of memory in the public - as everything both in melody and modulation that is worth doing has already been done over and over again."

- Charles Burney, Music, Men, and Manners in France and Italy, 1770

It's every bit as true now as it was then.

* * * * * * * * * * *

COMMENTS:

Susan Scheid says: Oh, dear, I probably shouldn't venture in here, but I just don't think this is true. First of all, "everything both in melody and modulation that is worth doing has already been done over and over again" hardly covers the waterfront of the possibilities, don't you think? Where, for example, would microtonal work fit into that? (I'm sure you'll come up with something that blasts me out of the water here, but . . .)
KG replies: Oh, Susan, Susan, don't fall for the trap. It's as true now as it was in 1770. Was it true in 1770? Nothing new since then? :^D

Susan Scheid says: Ouch! I fell for it, hook, line, and all! Should've known you were tongue in cheek there . . . but I never have been good at spotting that.
KG replies: I went beyond my usual irony line here, I admit. My point, as always, is that music's potential has only begun to be explored, and there are a million things left untried so far.

Copyright 2014 by Kyle Gann

Return to the Kyle Gann Home Page

return to the home page