Talk:Robert Craft

Untitled
THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE I WAS IN MR. ROBERT CRAFTS FLORIDA HOME YESTERDAY AND HE IS VERY MUCH ALIVE.YOUR INFORMATION IS WRONG.YOU STATE HE DIED FEB 6 TH 06.


 * have edited the page to reflect this information, as well as several other small prose and wikifying edits not related to content. MarkBuckles 07:32, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

I possess a copy of a hardback volume with the title `Small Craft Advisories' of collected essays by our man which is not itemised in the bibliography. It probably should be. However I do not have my copy to hand so I cannot supply details. An interesting and readable - if disagreeable - book. Someone more knowledgeable than I should sort this out.

Copyright infringement?
The entire paragraph under "Writing" is lifted verbatim from the Baker's article on Craft, as written by that old Craft-hater Nicolas Slonimsky. It's a terrific passage but I don't think we can use it here. How do we proceed? --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 18:50, 12 December 2006 (UTC)


 * It can't be verbatim; see my changes in July which rephrased some particularly pompous verbiage. The solution would be to continue revising the paragraph and balancing some of the negative remarks, if that is justified.  I have only a passing knowledge of Craft's life and work, so I would suggest others take this up.  But given that some of the text is already paraphrased from what Wspencer11 says is the source, the copyright issue is probably not urgent.--StN 21:46, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Discography
The official SonyBMG Masterworks discography link for this artist is as follows


 * Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks

It (in most cases) contains a full listing of in-print CDs released on the SonyBMG labels within the US (for the moment), along with track listings and in some cases audio clips (which will become more robust in the new year). Ecommerce links are provided inobtrusively.

I have been informed that it creates a conflict of interest to post these links directly from my account, so please consider adding the page to the link section. Thanks.

Softlord 23:16, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Career as conductor
I have altered the sentence regarding his recordings of Varese et. al. because while they were certainly pioneering, they have not been met with anything like universal acclaim. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 19:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Also Robert Craft is awsome —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.241.87.34 (talk) 00:19, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

But he recorded a number of pieces way before anyone else. I had never heard of Monteverdi's Vespers when his recording proved it to be an incredible masterpiece. If it sounds dated today, it is dated, from half a century ago. He introduced Boulez and Stockhousen to the American market. He had and has an incredibly wide range of musical interests and I for one am happy to share the same planet with him —Preceding unsigned comment added by Igorwam (talk • contribs) 02:18, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Artistically fallow?
I made a slight change to the section dealing with Mr. Craft's legacy. There was a phrase, "Others blamed him for leading Stravinsky into the artistically fallow regions of 1960's serialism." Sounded rather biased against serialism, if you ask me. I replaced with the more neutral, "largely unpopular."

For the record, I believe Stravinsky's late music to be very under-rated. Works like Agon, Requiem Canticles, the Variations for Orchestra, and The Owl and the Pussy-Cat are some of Stravinsky's most delightful and youthful works. It's hard to believe an octogenerian could compose such vibrant music.

Furthermore, I believe this recent backlash against serial music is absurd. There is good music; there is bad music. There are just as many bad composers writing dreck in "neo-romantic" or "neo tonal" styles as there were in the 1960's when serialism was at its peak. One often hears these composers whining to the effect of, "In my heart, I always wanted to write lush, tonal music. But those academics wouldn't let me, so I was forced to write in these atonal, serial, aleatory idioms." Absurd. Your a composer. Nobody is forcing you to write anything! If you don't like composing, take up plumbing, carpenting, or finance. Believe me, few if any will lose sleep over your career change. Or do what men like Shostakovich, Britten, Arnold, Rochberg, and many others did - go against the grain and write your OWN kind of music! Failing that, you may want to take a cold, hard look in the mirror and maybe just come to grips that you just might not be that great of a composer. Anyway, allow me to dismount my soapbox. The Sporty Jew (talk) 20:01, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Wrong picture
That photo used in the article is most definitely not of the late Robert Craft. It almost looks like Paul Horgan, though I'm not sure if he was around for the Stravinskys' Finnish trip. CurryTime7-24 (talk) 08:48, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I can't find any images of Paul Horgan with glasses, and the description at File:Stravinski-1961-Helsinki.jpg is clear, so I'm going to restore the picture. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 21:42, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
 * There's actually one of him wearing glasses in his Encounters With Stravinsky book. Again, this photo, contrary to what its description claims, is not of Robert Craft. His eyes, chin, and ears look different; the forelock that Craft usually tossed to his right-hand side is missing; indeed, the hair is styled altogether differently (looks as if its combed back); and the person looks rather older than what Craft actually looked like during this period. It should also be noted, too, that a Finnish book on the history of that nation's radio symphony orchestras—from where this image is scanned from—is hardly an authoritative source on Robert Craft's life. A mistake was clearly made here. Removing the photo again. CurryTime7-24 (talk) 23:06, 9 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm not going to restore the picture into the article again, but you should note that Wikipedia's rules require verifiable and reliable sources to support your claim. The only source we have so far says that picture shows Craft. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 02:11, 10 December 2015 (UTC)