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Parallels And Paradoxes: Explorations In Music And Society by Edward W. Said, Daniel Barenboim
hoboken's review against another edition
1.0
I picked this up because I've long admired Edward Said and didn't realize he had interest or expertise in music. But perhaps I'm not enough of a musician to appreciate the details--it seemed a rather self-indulgent and meandering series of conversations esp since they weren't presented in chronological order. The discussions of music making were abstract and almost mystical rather than describing the practical details of performing and interpreting music I would expect from a soloist and conductor like Barenboim. Maybe it was b/c Said wasn't a musician. I rapidly began to feel as though they were on a different plane from me and we weren't getting anywhere.
Further I get annoyed when people start talking, as they did early in these conversations, about getting Israeli and Arab kids together to (activity of your choice here--make music, do sports, study computers) in the hope that this will bring a solution to the war in Palestine. There will be peace there when the adults stop killing each other (and their children) and when the Israelis give back the land they stole which will be done when the US stops bankrolling Israeli aggression at $3B plus a year. Summer music camps aren't going to cut it. And Said knew that very well.
Further I get annoyed when people start talking, as they did early in these conversations, about getting Israeli and Arab kids together to (activity of your choice here--make music, do sports, study computers) in the hope that this will bring a solution to the war in Palestine. There will be peace there when the adults stop killing each other (and their children) and when the Israelis give back the land they stole which will be done when the US stops bankrolling Israeli aggression at $3B plus a year. Summer music camps aren't going to cut it. And Said knew that very well.
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