The Quartets of Sydney Grew

Did they? Why? How? Has the composer extended them all (however many there may be)?

Anyway, we've come quite a long way in this thread without getting anywhere, so it would seem that, unless Member Grew decides to reveal all (or at least something) on this topic or unless some other enterprising member successfully tracks down and reports on all or some of the said quartets, there is little if anything to be gained from continuing it...

Best,

Alistair

I was about to send Member Grew a courteous PM of support, but thought better of it in view of his inclination (as above) to make personal messages public.

I should, however, like to urge Member Grew not to take offence at Moderators' action, because he should remember that they are acting in the interests of the whole community and not just individuals. (Member Grew, like the rest of us, knows very well that his thread was not entitled "More on Feldman" as he claims, but something very different in its presentation.) Though I was not a complainant about his thread title, I can well see how it would have caused offence.

The Member should realize that it is seldom appropriate to malign others simply because one himself may have been offended by their artistic outputs and endeavours, and that the notion that "two wrongs make a right" is quite alien to the logic of many of his own arguments that have been observed over some time on this - and other - MBs.

Not only do I enjoy the Member's posts (providing, as they do, many provocative ideas that - at worst - provide ongoing material for a thriving "R3ok Glossary" thread), but this MB would be worse off without them - providing as they always do some colour, entertainment, and (yes!) depth. HOWEVER, the Member should take seriously the wishes of those (whom I here join) who yearn to have sight of some of his own music. It is surely a simple matter to place a couple of pages of his own MS on the scanner, and let us have a sight of it so that we can acquire a better insight into his own musical thinking and creativity (especially since much of what we read from him on this forum seems negative and dismissive of the efforts of others).

P-L-E-A-S-E Member Grew, let us see something and observe for ourselves what there is to be appreciated in it.

Baz

There is a fine dividing line between being witty and provocative and being offensive. IMO SG's original post was definitely in the former category (despite, or maybe because of, my being a great enthusiast for Feldman's music) whereas his thread title (possibly a misjudged attempt at further humour) fell into the latter. I would be quite happy for the entire thread to stand with the appropriate title of "Morton Feldman" - what I do find unacceptable is that, once a moderator had changed the title of the thread to this, that SG then changed it back to his own offensive title. That is not the way to behave on a civilised forum - disagree with a moderator by all means but do not attempt to circumvent their action. It is also totally unreasonable to expect a decision re any complaint from a member to await the presence of all 3 moderators on the forum - this might not happen for several days - and, meanwhile, is nothing to happen?

I agree with Andy.

One reason we chose to have 3 moderators was to allow decisions to be made quickly and fairly, and not for them to wait for 3 votes but to act if 2 agreed on the action to be taken.

Grew acted wrongly in circumventing the moderators' action, particularly when the thread title was offensive and did not add to the content of the message.

I recall the photo of a happy composer which so upset Mr Grew. Would he be equally unhappy if we had a photo of WA Mozart, crouched under a harpsichord, farting while his sister played in front of the local burgher?

I can see how calling a fellow member of this board or anyone else alive a moron could cause offence but considering Feldman has been dead for 20 years, do we need to be so squeamish? If I called Wagner or Beethoven an imbecile, would that be a case for moderation? How many years need to pass? And at least Mr Grew elaborates on his opinions, and doesn't just make gratuitous remarks.

I think I remember his letting slip that he once played the viola in a Gilbert and Sullivan production. I would love to see examples of his work.

I didn't see the original, except at the instant it was moved to Archive.  Whether the title was offensive or not is not my call.  We should abide by the moderators' judgement(s) here.

However, I think that even if a member finds it offensive, there should be some judgement by moderators - otherwise, what would happen if mischievous members started reporting something as offensive when it wasn't at all?

But the major issue seems that Syd is not accepting the judgement of the moderators - either in amending the title of the post or by making demands of moderators.

I think when it comes down to disagreements about moderator judgements, we should abide by the moderators actions and decisions, but continue to help the moderators evolve their management of the board.  It is a hard job being peacemaker.  Let's give Podged, Blootered, and Needleblip () as much support as we can.

But one thing that would help is a statement of how moderation is how to work on this board, and examples of how moderators will act in certain circumstances.  Syd gave a very clear statement of how he would act as moderator in his hustings post.  I think Ron, Ollie and Mort did too, but it would be worth a reminder.

I would very much appreciate it if what we've learnt from this episode, and the principles of moderation we've discovered, coudl be posted on the board rules thread / area.

Haven't we been here before?

Tommo

PS - if splitting is getting easier, could this last section of threads become a 'how the boards are run' discussion?