Hello! To many of you, welcome back! This is not the message for which you'd probably been waiting—I didn't finish the book, and I'm not resuming the blog. Instead, I'm dying.
(To those finding this blog for the first time—Hello! You're just as welcome to be here, and there are plenty of entries that aren't about my inevitable, imminent death, if you're not into that when you're trying to research Beethoven's deafness.)
We'd known early on that this could only be a short-term blog given how deadly cancer is when it hits Stage IV, especially in the brain. I kept going so long as I still had ideas—and I still do!—but the lesions in my brain have made it difficult to find the right words when writing, and the periods of lucidity between chemo cycles have gotten shorter and more painful. When it got to the point that I wasn't feeling any sense of recovery between chemo sessions, I declared my treatment over and asked to be given palliative care only. I'm living in hospice, responding to old friends, being visited by people I haven't seen in years, consuming more chocolate and coffee than I can handle (I'm working on that, for comfort's sake). My husband is taking leave from work and our son is off of school (which he would have been otherwise at this time of year), so ideally I'll get to die with them by my side.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
From Blog to Book: After the Proposal
Status Update and Writing Process
Hello, everyone! It’s been months since I’ve posted on this blog, though I’ve been active on social media—admittedly more with my personal accounts than with the blog’s Twitter and Facebook—to announce excellent news about the book: One month ago, I signed a contract with Clemson University Press for them to publish my book based on this blog. The book is another step toward becoming real!
Of course, there are still plenty of steps between here and the published book. For example, we haven’t completely settled on the title. The contract refers to the book as Riotous Rites and Other Lies about Classical Music—for now. I also have about twenty-five chapters of content to write, as well as a conclusion.
My Writing Process: Last week I worked on the introduction and the first chapter, writing and revising the intro to the point I felt secure enough to show it to friends for feedback. Now that I have their suggestions, I’m revising the intro again before I send it to my managing editor for her comments.
I’ve found I work best when I receive feedback early in my writing process because it helps me adjust my tone before drafting the rest of the book. I'll continue asking for comments and suggestions as I go, this time focusing on scholars who are experts (or have at least shown an interest) in the topic at hand. Once I complete writing the whole book, chapter by chapter, I’ll return to the introduction and revise it according to what the book really does instead of what I thought I wanted it to do.
For this early round of feedback, I purposely asked more non-music scholar friends than fellow musicologists because I consider Riotous Rites a trade book as well as a scholarly one. I don’t know whether you, reader, consider yourself a music scholar or not; in any case, I’m grateful you've come to my blog and read this far into my rambling personal post. Thank you.
I invite all of you to buy the book—or request it from a library—in spring/summer 2021.
Too Long, Didn’t Read: I signed a contract with a Clemson University Press for a book based on this blog. Writing has gone well so far, so I am aiming for a deadline that would put it on the shelves mid-2021.
Like what you’ve read?
Hello, everyone! It’s been months since I’ve posted on this blog, though I’ve been active on social media—admittedly more with my personal accounts than with the blog’s Twitter and Facebook—to announce excellent news about the book: One month ago, I signed a contract with Clemson University Press for them to publish my book based on this blog. The book is another step toward becoming real!
Of course, there are still plenty of steps between here and the published book. For example, we haven’t completely settled on the title. The contract refers to the book as Riotous Rites and Other Lies about Classical Music—for now. I also have about twenty-five chapters of content to write, as well as a conclusion.
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I’ve also had unavoidable delays: chemo side effects, my son being home all day during summer break, etc.
Whisper (the cat) has been an outstanding writing assistant, aside from behaving like I'm his assistant
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My Writing Process: Last week I worked on the introduction and the first chapter, writing and revising the intro to the point I felt secure enough to show it to friends for feedback. Now that I have their suggestions, I’m revising the intro again before I send it to my managing editor for her comments.
I’ve found I work best when I receive feedback early in my writing process because it helps me adjust my tone before drafting the rest of the book. I'll continue asking for comments and suggestions as I go, this time focusing on scholars who are experts (or have at least shown an interest) in the topic at hand. Once I complete writing the whole book, chapter by chapter, I’ll return to the introduction and revise it according to what the book really does instead of what I thought I wanted it to do.
For this early round of feedback, I purposely asked more non-music scholar friends than fellow musicologists because I consider Riotous Rites a trade book as well as a scholarly one. I don’t know whether you, reader, consider yourself a music scholar or not; in any case, I’m grateful you've come to my blog and read this far into my rambling personal post. Thank you.
I invite all of you to buy the book—or request it from a library—in spring/summer 2021.
Too Long, Didn’t Read: I signed a contract with a Clemson University Press for a book based on this blog. Writing has gone well so far, so I am aiming for a deadline that would put it on the shelves mid-2021.
Like what you’ve read?
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
“How’s that book coming along?”
Hello, everyone! It’s been five months since I last updated this blog, and I hope I haven’t lost too many of you during this hiatus. As I announced in the previous post, I’m taking a break from blogging so that I can work on a book based on this blog!
When I announced that back in January, I had no idea how many obstacles lay ahead: debilitating, unexplained leg pain; a few days’ stay in the hospital; further radiation treatments; and all the energy-sapping stress that comes from chronic medical issues. On top of all that (or because of it), I had a nasty bout of procrastination.
However, around late March I found a new determination to make this book happen. I began to use a day planner to set concrete goals and schedule time for writing every day. That’s when the book started to take shape.
As it stands right now, part of it will be a discussion of the larger clichés of classical music, such as all composers being dead, white, men, and this style being associated with the upper class, elitism, and snobbery. Then I devote a section to bad science applied to music—or science applied to music badly. Finally, I get to the classic debunking of specific myths, sorted by composer.
If you’ve been reading this blog, most of these topics will be familiar, but reading the book will be a new experience. Though I’m planning to revisit many of my most relevant posts, I am improving them: updating them with recent research, incorporating feedback from the comments (You readers know your stuff!), and expanding the discussions so the chapters reflect some unifying themes of the book.
Also, since no one would want to buy something they could get on the internet for free, the book will include exclusive content. One of the reasons for my break from blogging is that I need that fresh, original content for the book!
But the book is still in the future. In my burst of disciplined writing, I’ve drafted all the components of my proposal. Right now, they’re being looked at by trusted colleagues who’ve kindly offered to give me feedback. My contact and I are hoping to send the proposal to the publisher by the end of the month, and then…we’ll see!
The feedback I’ve gotten has been very positive, but then, so far it’s coming from my friends. Nevertheless, I’m very excited to be working on this book, and I hope you enjoy it once it eventually exists!
Like what you’ve read?
When I announced that back in January, I had no idea how many obstacles lay ahead: debilitating, unexplained leg pain; a few days’ stay in the hospital; further radiation treatments; and all the energy-sapping stress that comes from chronic medical issues. On top of all that (or because of it), I had a nasty bout of procrastination.
However, around late March I found a new determination to make this book happen. I began to use a day planner to set concrete goals and schedule time for writing every day. That’s when the book started to take shape.
 |
| Me, hard at work, writing at the local coffee shop. Thanks for all those Ko-fis! |
If you’ve been reading this blog, most of these topics will be familiar, but reading the book will be a new experience. Though I’m planning to revisit many of my most relevant posts, I am improving them: updating them with recent research, incorporating feedback from the comments (You readers know your stuff!), and expanding the discussions so the chapters reflect some unifying themes of the book.
Also, since no one would want to buy something they could get on the internet for free, the book will include exclusive content. One of the reasons for my break from blogging is that I need that fresh, original content for the book!
But the book is still in the future. In my burst of disciplined writing, I’ve drafted all the components of my proposal. Right now, they’re being looked at by trusted colleagues who’ve kindly offered to give me feedback. My contact and I are hoping to send the proposal to the publisher by the end of the month, and then…we’ll see!
The feedback I’ve gotten has been very positive, but then, so far it’s coming from my friends. Nevertheless, I’m very excited to be working on this book, and I hope you enjoy it once it eventually exists!
Like what you’ve read?
Friday, January 18, 2019
Announcement: Why the Blog is not Updating Right Now
Hello, everyone!
Happy new year! I’m sorry that it’s taken me more than midway through January to wish you a happy 2019, but I suspect you’ll forgive me when you learn the reasons for my lack of posts in the past few months. In addition to holidays and travel (which aren’t unique to me, I know) and family responsibilities (also not unique to me, though some of you know the complications I face), and medical issues (I had brain radiation again in October 2018, and I’m in the process of trying a new chemotherapy regimen, which can be unpredictable), I have some exciting news:
I’m working on a proposal for a book based on this blog.
I’m still in the earliest stages, but so far, I’ve received a lot of positive and enthusiastic responses to this idea, so I’m optimistic that some press will want to publish it. My plan for now is that the book will be similar in tone and aim of the blog—debunking myths, challenging clichés, explaining why certain narratives persist even when they’re false, etc. Much of the book will be essays take directly from the blog, with some revisions and, I hope, improvements. However, it would be foolish to expect people to pay for content that they can already get online for free, so I’m going to come up with additional, new material. As a result, some content I would normally put up on the blog I’m now saving to be exclusive to the book.
So, I’m taking a hiatus from the blog. I don’t know how long this break will last, and I can’t announce an expected publication date for the book—it’s too early for me to know, as it hasn’t been accepted or even proposed yet! I will still be active on Twitter, mostly on my personal account (@lindahyphen), but also on the blog account (@MusHistCliches) when something relevant happens. I’ll also keep posting relevant updates on the blog's Facebook page.
In the meantime, I invite you to go back through the archives, and I’m asking you a favor: If you’re willing, can you please let me know any classical music mysteries that you’ve been wondering about but that I haven’t addressed through the blog yet? I already have some ideas for the new essays (including a question that took musicology by storm thirty years ago!), but I’d love to know what questions have been burning in your mind. You can email me at linda@shavergleason.com. I prefer email to social media for this purpose, as it lets me archive and retrieve correspondence easier.
Thank you so much for sticking around enough to find this announcement, and I hope the potential book will be worth your patience!
Too Long, Didn’t Read: The blog is on hiatus because I’m working on turning it into a book. If you have questions or stories I haven’t addressed yet, please email them to me at linda@shavergleason.com.
Happy new year! I’m sorry that it’s taken me more than midway through January to wish you a happy 2019, but I suspect you’ll forgive me when you learn the reasons for my lack of posts in the past few months. In addition to holidays and travel (which aren’t unique to me, I know) and family responsibilities (also not unique to me, though some of you know the complications I face), and medical issues (I had brain radiation again in October 2018, and I’m in the process of trying a new chemotherapy regimen, which can be unpredictable), I have some exciting news:
I’m working on a proposal for a book based on this blog.
 |
| You'll be as fascinated by what you read as Samuel Johnson in this portrait by Joshua Reynolds! |
So, I’m taking a hiatus from the blog. I don’t know how long this break will last, and I can’t announce an expected publication date for the book—it’s too early for me to know, as it hasn’t been accepted or even proposed yet! I will still be active on Twitter, mostly on my personal account (@lindahyphen), but also on the blog account (@MusHistCliches) when something relevant happens. I’ll also keep posting relevant updates on the blog's Facebook page.
In the meantime, I invite you to go back through the archives, and I’m asking you a favor: If you’re willing, can you please let me know any classical music mysteries that you’ve been wondering about but that I haven’t addressed through the blog yet? I already have some ideas for the new essays (including a question that took musicology by storm thirty years ago!), but I’d love to know what questions have been burning in your mind. You can email me at linda@shavergleason.com. I prefer email to social media for this purpose, as it lets me archive and retrieve correspondence easier.
Thank you so much for sticking around enough to find this announcement, and I hope the potential book will be worth your patience!
Too Long, Didn’t Read: The blog is on hiatus because I’m working on turning it into a book. If you have questions or stories I haven’t addressed yet, please email them to me at linda@shavergleason.com.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Would Beethoven prefer a modern piano if he had one?
Almost two years ago, I wrote an article for The Avid Listener that debunked several myths about Ludwig van Beethoven’s deafness. I relied a lot on research and feedback from Robin Wallace from Baylor University, who was then working on a book about the subject, which I mentioned in my promotional blog post. Well, that book, Hearing Beethoven: A Story of Musical Loss & Discovery, was released earlier this month (October 2018). I’m reading it right now, and I’m stunned by all the assumptions he calls into question.
In Hearing Beethoven, Wallace reexamines how Beethoven’s life and compositions were affected by his gradual loss of hearing, with insight gained from his late wife Barbara’s reported experience with her own deafness. Wallace examines journals, letters, conversation books, old listening devices, composition sketchbooks, and recent scientific developments to put many aspects of Beethoven’s adult life into context. By doing so, he challenges many assumptions and overturns some generally accepted Beethoven lore—which is the kind of work I aspire to!
I was most impressed with the fifth chapter, “The Artifacts of Deafness,” by the way that Wallace shifts the assumed relationship between Beethoven and the contemporaneous developments in piano manufacturing. As he points out, the piano was constantly changing throughout Beethoven’s lifetime, expanding the range of keys, changing the mechanisms to evoke louder sounds, experimenting with materials to ultimately make the instrument bigger and bolder.
Now, doesn’t that seem just ideal for a composer who was gradually losing his hearing? One might even speculate that there’s a reason Beethoven’s style and pianos co-evolved—perhaps piano manufacturers were even influenced by his new piano sonatas, challenged to create instruments to accommodate their idiosyncrasies. After all, didn’t Beethoven once rave at a famous violinist, “What do I care about your damned fiddle when the Spirit seizes me!” I mean, Beethoven, the great innovator, wasn’t constrained by what was, only concerned with what could be! Surely, if he were alive today, he would be impressed by our pianos, finally able to produce the powerful sounds that had only existed in his imagination!
Except…no, probably not.
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| Hearing Beethoven: Marvel as it systematically undermines every Beethoven myth your music teacher told you! |
I was most impressed with the fifth chapter, “The Artifacts of Deafness,” by the way that Wallace shifts the assumed relationship between Beethoven and the contemporaneous developments in piano manufacturing. As he points out, the piano was constantly changing throughout Beethoven’s lifetime, expanding the range of keys, changing the mechanisms to evoke louder sounds, experimenting with materials to ultimately make the instrument bigger and bolder.
Now, doesn’t that seem just ideal for a composer who was gradually losing his hearing? One might even speculate that there’s a reason Beethoven’s style and pianos co-evolved—perhaps piano manufacturers were even influenced by his new piano sonatas, challenged to create instruments to accommodate their idiosyncrasies. After all, didn’t Beethoven once rave at a famous violinist, “What do I care about your damned fiddle when the Spirit seizes me!” I mean, Beethoven, the great innovator, wasn’t constrained by what was, only concerned with what could be! Surely, if he were alive today, he would be impressed by our pianos, finally able to produce the powerful sounds that had only existed in his imagination!
Except…no, probably not.
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