<<Although it is kind of amusing to watch them and to see, as they pan
into the audience, that a large percentage of the "Young People" were
quite
obviously bored out of their little skulls. But those were Young
People raised in an era in which people were expected to be polite even
if their parents were dragging them to some boring concert.>>
It may have been a large percentage, although I don't remember it that
way. it is, however, very easy to misread young children, especially
in ritualistic types of settings. And, these kids were unbelievably
young but incredibly disciplined by today's standards of maturity. One
only sees that degree of lack of figitting among groups of
semi-comatose grad students.
You'd be surprised the amount a kid can take in while appearing bored
and uninterested. They don't always exhibit the same body language as
adults. And, also, even for those not taking mental notes along the
way, what was important was that at such a young age they were becoming
aware that such music isn't foreign, but a part of life. And, he never
talked down to them. Those who were ready, listened. Those who
weren't probably remembered the music years later and maybe tried to
rediscover it.
As for Haas, as anachronistic as he was in his presentation, and as
silly and grandfatherish as he could be, there wasn't a moment he ever
hit a false or patronizing note. He was sharing what he loved and I
think that had a lot to do with his popularity. People can tell this
stuff a mile away.
I also think he served a different purposes for different listeners.
As much as many fellow grad students and young professionals liked to
make fun of him in the old days, they would always betray themselves
once in a while by remarking they heard a piece or performer on Karl
Haas.
Personally, I think those who truly love music and are always pushed by
curiousity to explore further look for any source to get a fix on
something new. I'm sure that's true for everyone here, no?
Dan Plante