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Vampire, whole no. 8, December 1946
Page 29
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not taken it over. And between 1938-41 he *did* present some good yarns-- "Black World," the Burroughs tales, and many lesser but still good stories. When Palmer took over the mag, the circulation was a puny 22,000. He increased it by 23,000 more copies almost immediately. In 1943 AS, FA, and Mammoth Detective were the three top-selling pulps in America, outselling even Argosy, Blue Book, and Short Story. Sure, the quality of the material may have decreased-- but who are we to begrudge a man making money? I have bought all issues of AS and FA that were published since I became a collector simply for completism's sweet sake. I know I wouldn't have bought all of them otherwise, although I have enjoyed several stories in the past few years. Palmer is admittedly no angel for prostituting stf, but he's no anti-Christ either. MILTON A. ROTHMAN Philadelphia, Pa. Regarding de la Ree's article on fantasy music: it has been demonstrated many times that an individual's interpretation of the meaning of a musical composition is strictly subjective. That is, each person gets a different impression of the composition. In that light, I am often amused to note the odd items which people label "fantasy music." For instance, altho the "Merry Mount" suite may come from an opera which had something to do with witches in Salem, the suite itself, consisting of a maypole dance and other gay numbers, can't be considered fantastic by any stretch of the imagination. Likewise the Romantic Symphony by Hansen. Holtz's [sic] "The Planets" is the subject of many misconceptions. The inspiration for this suite is astrology, and while astrology is indeed fantastic, I would be much happier if Holst had been thinking of the planets in their astronomical vein. Parts of the music are okay in their own right, especially the Jupiter section. My point of view concerning fantasy music is this: Music is in my young life as important as fantasy. When I buy records I choose them for the musical value, and not because they happen to be fantastic. A collection of fantasy music would have a few first-rate pieces of *music* while the rest would be second-rate. That's not for me. I would buy all of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms before obtaining Berlioz' Fantastic Symphony. To initiate a person into music via the fantasy route would give him a rather distorted picture of music. Furthermore, the process of bottling up people in a room and forcing them to listen to music just because it is fantasy can't possibly do any good, because the unhappy subject simply isn't ready to listen to that kind of music. Good lord, you don't teach a person how to read by feeding him Lovecraft and Poe-- you start with the First Reader and the Oz books. Music is no different. Just because the ear can hear sounds doesn't mean the mind can evaluate the complexities of a modern score. It requires training. I'm pretty sophisticated musically, but "The Planets" is rough going in spots even for me. A beginner would hear nothing but noise. For the person who is musically, [sic] I recommend that they listen to "Schelomo" by Ernest Bloch. It is supposed to tell the story of Solomon, and a more luscious oriental score has never been written. JACK SPEER Seattle, Wn. ... This brings us to the Septem- [page number:] -29-
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not taken it over. And between 1938-41 he *did* present some good yarns-- "Black World," the Burroughs tales, and many lesser but still good stories. When Palmer took over the mag, the circulation was a puny 22,000. He increased it by 23,000 more copies almost immediately. In 1943 AS, FA, and Mammoth Detective were the three top-selling pulps in America, outselling even Argosy, Blue Book, and Short Story. Sure, the quality of the material may have decreased-- but who are we to begrudge a man making money? I have bought all issues of AS and FA that were published since I became a collector simply for completism's sweet sake. I know I wouldn't have bought all of them otherwise, although I have enjoyed several stories in the past few years. Palmer is admittedly no angel for prostituting stf, but he's no anti-Christ either. MILTON A. ROTHMAN Philadelphia, Pa. Regarding de la Ree's article on fantasy music: it has been demonstrated many times that an individual's interpretation of the meaning of a musical composition is strictly subjective. That is, each person gets a different impression of the composition. In that light, I am often amused to note the odd items which people label "fantasy music." For instance, altho the "Merry Mount" suite may come from an opera which had something to do with witches in Salem, the suite itself, consisting of a maypole dance and other gay numbers, can't be considered fantastic by any stretch of the imagination. Likewise the Romantic Symphony by Hansen. Holtz's [sic] "The Planets" is the subject of many misconceptions. The inspiration for this suite is astrology, and while astrology is indeed fantastic, I would be much happier if Holst had been thinking of the planets in their astronomical vein. Parts of the music are okay in their own right, especially the Jupiter section. My point of view concerning fantasy music is this: Music is in my young life as important as fantasy. When I buy records I choose them for the musical value, and not because they happen to be fantastic. A collection of fantasy music would have a few first-rate pieces of *music* while the rest would be second-rate. That's not for me. I would buy all of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms before obtaining Berlioz' Fantastic Symphony. To initiate a person into music via the fantasy route would give him a rather distorted picture of music. Furthermore, the process of bottling up people in a room and forcing them to listen to music just because it is fantasy can't possibly do any good, because the unhappy subject simply isn't ready to listen to that kind of music. Good lord, you don't teach a person how to read by feeding him Lovecraft and Poe-- you start with the First Reader and the Oz books. Music is no different. Just because the ear can hear sounds doesn't mean the mind can evaluate the complexities of a modern score. It requires training. I'm pretty sophisticated musically, but "The Planets" is rough going in spots even for me. A beginner would hear nothing but noise. For the person who is musically, [sic] I recommend that they listen to "Schelomo" by Ernest Bloch. It is supposed to tell the story of Solomon, and a more luscious oriental score has never been written. JACK SPEER Seattle, Wn. ... This brings us to the Septem- [page number:] -29-
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