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Subject:
From:
Dirk Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
- Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:38:18 -0700
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List members,

Since its release, I've been using every spare moment (which admittedly 
isn't saying very much) to study Ezra Pound, /Le Testament, "Paroles de 
Villon"/, 1926 'Salle Pleyel' concert excerpts & 1933 Final Version, 
complete opera, Margaret Fisher, Robert Hughes Editors. Not that I've 
made much progress, being dense of mind and short of time, but the work 
is illuminating and rewarding.

This is one of the most important pieces of Pound scholarship (and 
original texts by Pound) to become available in many years. It deserves 
all the attention it can be given. I'm wondering whether there's anyone 
else on this list who has looked into Pound's music and in particular 
the work of Fisher and Hughes (especially /Villon/, /Cavalcanti/ and 
/Collis O Heliconii/) sufficiently to carry on a discussion about this 
with me (this is not some veiled claim that I'm an "expert" -- I most 
certainly am not). Pound's music is a large subject, and I would 
appreciate some interaction around it by the brilliant members of this 
list. In particular, I'm interested how his settings of poems by Villon, 
Cavalcanti, Catullus, and Sappho reflect and illuminate Pound's own 
ideas about and practices of melopoeia in the his critical writings, the 
/Cantos/, and elsewhere. Fisher and Hughes have done a lot of work in 
this area, and I have a lot of respect for their accomplishment and 
their views. But it would be enlightening to know what others, 
especially those belonging to this list, think of the uncovering of Ezra 
Pound's music and it's relationship to Pound's verse.

If no one expresses interest in the subject, I suppose I'll just begin 
to throw out my thoughts and see what kinds of attacks it provokes from 
the usually silent, though dangerous, denizens of the deep.

I feel fortunate to have acquired a copy of /Le Testament/, not only 
because of the quality of the work itself (both Pound's and the 
Editors'), but because it was released in a limited printing which 
appears to be nearly sold out. I've kicked myself in the past (pretty 
hard at times) for not buying Poundiana when it was readily available 
and reasonably priced. To me, this is like getting a first edition of/ 
The Pisan Cantos/ or some other important printing -- who would have 
thought it possible to get a newly printed first edition of a major work 
by Ezra Pound in 2008?

Dirk Johnson
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