2/15/2005

 

Aesthetics, Song, and America



Aesthetics, Song, and America

Which Bird is the best singer? This question will enter into a discussion of aesthetics, and I will compare bird song to which opera singer is the best singer. I shall start by telling you that I've just reviewed the Britannica article on aesthetics. The article plainly explains the difficulty of a discussion like this, and yet acknowledges that it is not only a puzzling, but also a very interesting realm of experience. Defining the word is actually the main job in furthering the discussion. I shall not do that, but I'll note some things that are interesting to me. If you ask a question such as, is Renata Tebaldi or Maria Callas the best singer, depending on your approach, it is likely to be a fruitless waste of time, and at its best, it might cause very interesting further thought. What it is not likely to do is settle the issue. That is the problem the aesthete lives with. The discussion is too abstract for any of the kind of logic that a subject like math might give in to.

One thing we can notice, however, is that there is a body of knowledge. Only a person who has spent a lot of time listening to the two sopranos -- not one, but both singers could have a valid discussion. Country-western singers would have no place here. Of course, we know that with bird song because we work hard to get qualifying judges that know the timbrado song. There is no substitute for listening carefully and critically. Anyone who has not listened to the singers would have no way of understanding what the critics are referring to. There is no substitute for listening, if I am right.

Because listening is so important to learning, I would say that at this point Spain has a tremendous advantage over America. My guess is that most of the expert breeder's in Spain began loving their birds in childhood. I would guess that there is a point where these breeders became interested in the timbrado song by listening to the birds. Continued listening and discrimination has led them to the point where they are now. While in Spain, this whole process may have been unconscious, in America we have nothing to compare it with.

I propose that with the modern technology that we have in the versatility of our computers, we in America have a wonderful source of learning and that the beginning is write on this site. In fact, I became interested through listening to the sound files on this site. Only now first and I beginning to read the extensive and wonderful pages of text. I may be wrong, but I know of no American which is as expert as the information and sound files (and even video files) which can be found in this site. In fact, I have never heard either Renata Tebaldi (who just died last month) or Maria Callas. I learned all of my opera from records. Only by knowing their recordings have it become interested when ever I read about these two singers. I think the same would be true with the timbrado Bird.

If I understand correctly, the classic type of timbrado has become established in America, I am thinking the cause that's what we hear and have learned. Of course, the roller and the waterslagger have been here much longer and I suspect we have a body of knowledge of these birds which is much more extensive than with the Floreados type of timbrado. America has a lot to learn from Spain and with the Internet, we have a means of learning! Spain has been doing t! his for hundreds of years, and I definitely believe that America has the means for learning the basics through the Internet. I am guessing that it may become likely that we may produce birds with a somewhat different song from the Spanish birds, just as in Spain communities have had small differences in the various areas. I believe that it will put us on the right track and give us the body of knowledge we don’t yet have. I am so happy that Spain is willing to teach us! The evidence is on this site. Good luck to a! ll of us!





Blame the Dragon Dictation program -- ride with a glide -- Segway

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