Arousing music Essay

The Obendorfer’s three-story Victorian home rested at the corner of Peabody and Main in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The grand homes candy-corn colored shutters peaked out from mature oak and trimmed spruce trees. It was a glorious day, the September’s morning breeze pungent with honeysuckles and sage. Across the meadow soon-to-be-ripened pumpkins slumbered beneath crawling vines. Preparations had been made, silver polished, crystal goblets buffed and glistened along side china place settings in anticipation of Valentin (last name goes here). Arriving notebook in hand Solomon the butler shows the Ladies Home Journal (LHJ) reporter in for a sumptuous breakfast of, kippered herring, liver, bacon and griddle cakes with Mrs. Marx Obendorfer, her son Reginald, heading off to college and daughter Daisy, a member of the Symphony Society and high school student. The interview will explore the controversy the scathing article revealed in the August issue of Ladies Home Journal entitled: Does Jazz Put the in Syncopation? {Reginald dressed in plaid waist-coat and knickers enters the dining room. Daisy seated at the window-box-seat is fiddling with her starched middy-blouse collar} Reginald: Good Morning, Daisy. Daisy {yawning}: Morning Reg. Mrs. Obendorfer: Good Morning children. Your father won’t be joining us for breakfast, business affairs you know. {Doorbell chimes and Sage the butler shows Valentin into the dining room. } Mrs. Obendorfer {extending her gloved hand in welcome}: Oh, do come in Mr. Put your last name here. Valentin: {clutching a notebook under his arm}: I ‘m so pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Obendorfer; it was kind of you to invite me into your home. Mrs. Obendorfer: {to butler} Solomon please take our guests hat and escort him into the dining room at once. {Solomon takes Valentin’s fedora and top-coat and seats him at the table and he’s introduced to Reginald and a bored Daisy}. Valentin {placing his fork down and leaning in towards Mrs. O}: Who was it that said, â€Å"Music soothes the savage beast? Mrs. : Obendorfer: Young man, music can change one’s mood, it can soothe the heart, bolster the spirit. It is the greatest gift to mankind. Valentin: Your article last month caused quite a stir if you please lets talk about why should we believe that ‘music might invoke savage instincts? † isn’t music just a series of sounds? Mrs. Obendorfer: In the past we have been content to accept all kinds of music†¦ and to admit music in all its phases into our homes simply because it was music. Never before in the history of our land have there been such immoral conditions among our young- Reginald {Frowning}: Oh Mother! You can’t believe that a type of music corrupts the morals-. Mrs. Obendorfer: I tell you surveys have been conducted, and it has been proven the culprit is jazz music, and its evil influence among our young people. Daisy: Mother all this talk about a passing phase. Why we at the Symphony- Reginald {Getting red-in-the face and interrupts Daisy}: Daisy what do you†¦ know you just echo Mother’s sentiment- Mrs. Obendorfer: Reginald! That will be quite enough we have a guest. Valentin: Mrs. Obendorfer, you mention in your article that the dance music of the past could really do no harm because it was music. What exactly do you mean? Mrs. Obendorfer: What I mean is the music of the past was not morally deficient. Yes, in the past certain restrictions were placed on some types of music and dance, but it was by the clergy who I might add have never been particularly enthusiastic about dancing anyway. It was not immoral as this Jazz! Valentin: I’m interested in the idea that immoral acts can be directly attributed to certain dances. Can someone flesh this out for me? Is there really a cause-and-effect relationship? Mrs. Obendorfer: I am appalled at the outrageous dances that have been permitted in private as well as public ballrooms. Vulgar and evil acts can be traced acts to the influence of these immoral dances. Reginald: Jazz is not evil. Jazz is freedom a freedom of expression. Mother, how can syncopated rhythm and tempo create immorality? Valentin: Uh†¦what sort of immoral acts would there be, anyway? If we can discuss them in mixed company, that is†¦ Mrs. Obendorfer: Such arousing music with its jerky half steps invites immoral variations. How can one find refinement when the music is void of any?