Domick, Petiron, Music on Pern

[Keelan]

I don't know if this gets to anyone else, but I've noticed that Domick and Petiron seem under-appreciated on Pern. I swear everyone just prefers simplistic pop-songs. Being a classical music lover myself, I'm sure I'd prefer Domick's compositions (after all, he seems to be a pernese Bach) to ,say, Menolly's. And yet no-one listens to their music, barely, or at least that's what's implied.

[pearldiver]

How many people on Pern can afford a full choir and orchestra to perform Domick's compositions the way they're meant to be done? Whereas every child is taught to sing and whistle by the local Harper, and most people will have a least a little skill with a simple instrument like pipes or drums.

You can sing Menolly's songs solo while you work. Try doing that with Bach. People might very well like Domick's music when they hear it, but they're simply going to have fewer chances to hear it and no real ability to reproduce it.

[Keelan]

True enough. Thanks for the insight. There are lots of solo pieces by classical composers however, but then again, I suppose it takes months of practice to perfect such pieces, and the people of Pern just wouldn't have time. 'Tis a pity.

[Lily]

And they don't have recorded music either, all their musical appreciation has to come from live performances.

Oh - I can hum classical pieces in my head. You just have to chose well.
You should "hear" me hum the Hallelujah chorus In four parts!!

[Keelan]

Some music pieces are quite humable (I'm not sure that's a word, but whatever), for example Vltava, and Valses Poeticos (by Enrique Granados, if anyone's interested). Maybe with the reintroduction of technology on Pern, the time of classical music will come again!

[Brenda]

Menolly says in Dragonsinger that Half-Circle Seahold only had three pieces of "occasional music", which I take to be more complex instrumental solos. I'm sure most backwater holds would be similarly limited - and the small cotholds would only have what they remember, and whenever a journeyman comes through.

[Eriflor]

I think what normally happens is that the composers write something special for a major Gather at Fort Hold, where it is heard by the Lord & Lady Holders, Crafters and Weyrfolk (and ordinary Pernese too) who attend that Gather. They may also send out select groups of singers and players to perform at the other main holds and Weyrs, especially if the piece emphasises something all the Pernese should know --- e.g. before the start of the Second Pass, Clisser sent out harpers to sing new teaching Ballads about the duties of Hold, Craft and Weyr. Or some of the music might be to celebrate weddings or the election of a new Lord Holder (hence "occasional" music).

I don't think they have orchestras in the sense we know them. More like groups of musicians who practise together at the Hall, aided by local harpers at the various Gather sites who have had a chance to practise their parts. Potential harper apprentices at the Gathers would listen to the classical-style music and want to go where they could learn to play or compose that kind of music.

[Brenda]

I want and do not want to see the scene where Domick gets to hear a full orchestral recording of, say, Beethoven Symphony 5 or 9. Want because I would love to see him experience that overwhelming rush, don't want because I'm sure he would be heartbroken at the knowledge that he could never manage to put on such a major performance.

[pearldiver]

Well, he'd have to re-invent some of the orchestral instruments, but he could give it a try. Sounds like a worth final project!

(I would love to read that scene in a fanfic, btw, Brenda. If you're thinking about it. )

[Eriflor]

I think a major problem for such a project would be finding enough players able to tackle it, and then keeping them in one place long enough to perfect the piece.

Most likely he would start by cherry-picking single movements from various major works and arrange them for a smaller orchestra that was well-balanced among strings, brass, woodwind and percussion. I'd say Pernese instruments mostly, but there might be some Earth instruments that produced a desirable effect not available from the instruments at hand, and that could be a project for an advanced instrument-maker.

In Dragon's Eye it's mentioned that the "one remaining piano" was in jeopardy because they couldn't manufacture the right kind of felt for the hammers. Apparently they did have one at some point that had the right kind of felt --- would they be likely to bring one to Pern, or just the instructions and a small supply of felt?