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Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century: The Oxford ... - Richard Taruskin - Google Books

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Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century: The Oxford ... - Richard Taruskin - Google Books

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The universally acclaimed and award-winning Oxford History of Western Music is the eminent musicologist Richard Taruskin's provocative, erudite telling of the story of Western music from its earliest days to the present. Each book in this superlative five-volume set illuminates-through a representative sampling of masterworks- the themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to a significant period in the history of Western music. This first volume in Richard Taruskin's majestic history, Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century , sweeps across centuries of musical innovation to shed light on the early forces that shaped the development of the Western classical tradition. Beginning with the invention of musical notation more than a thousand years ago, Taruskin addresses topics such as the legend of Saint Gregory and Gregorian chant, Augustine's and Boethius's thoughts on music, the liturgical dramas of Hildegard of Bingen, the growth of the music printing business, the literary revolution and the English madrigal, the influence of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and the operas of Monteverdi. Laced with brilliant observations, memorable musical analysis, and a panoramic sense of the interactions between history, culture, politics, art, literature, religion, and music, this book will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand this rich and diverse period.

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Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century

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The universally acclaimed and award-winning Oxford History of Western Music is the eminent musicologist Richard Taruskin's provocative, erudite telling of the story of Western music from its earliest days to the present. Each book in this superlative five-volume set illuminates-through a representative sampling of masterworks- the themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to a significant period in the history of Western music.

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Vintage Saxophones

There are many brands of saxophones!

Within those brands exist several types: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional.

No one company has discovered how to make a perfect sax. Certain ones will suit your taste more than others. Try some out to see what you like.

Before buying a completely new horn though, try getting a new mouthpiece, ligature, and/or reeds. Those alone make a major difference in your sound.

Here are a few of the brands of saxophones. When the saxophone was made also can make a difference. A few of the brands no longer manufacture saxophones, Buescher for example, but you can buy their horns second hand.

To start off when beginning to play saxophone

A beginner model will work fine. They will cost less, but also have less special features like a high f# key or rolled tone holes. Intermediate and advanced horns will be a bit higher end and advanced are rather close to professional. Professional horns are at the top of the line with all the bells and whistles- high f#, rolled tone holes, engravings, silver/black nickel plating, etc.

Most companies make saxophones for musicians at different stages.

A few notes about the companies

Keilwerth- German company, recently acquired by Buffet.
I'm a fan of my Keilwerth tenor. One of my sax teachers, Kristen Strom, liked it too. Other teachers have preferred other horns.

The bells on Keilwerths tend to be a little bigger- so not all cases will work with them.

Mine has rolled tone holes which seems to help prevent leaks under the keys a bit better.

Selmer- French company. Probably the most famous saxophone brand.
They made the famous Mark VI, which many saxophonists prefer. Unfortunately they stopped production for a time. The older Mark VI's are great, but some have come into disrepair, and made need more maintenance.

Some musicians also like the Super Action's, others don't. I played a Mark VII once, it sounded all right, but they didn't improve on the Mark VI.

Not long ago, they began making 'reference' horns which are similar to the Mark VI.

Yanagisawa- Japanese company.
Good reputation. I only tried a couple many years ago. Know some people who like them.

Yamaha- Japanese company.
My friend Tom really likes his custom Yamaha. They make many student models. I've played the beginning and intermediate models and they have a decent sound.

I tried the Custom Z models and liked them.

I think Yamaha saxophones can be very good and also can be more affordable than some other brands.

Conn
They have made some decent saxophones. Vintage horns are often harder to play. If you find one, try it out to see what you think. I would not recommend a vintage horn for the very beginning of playing saxophone.

Cannonball- Designed in the US and manufactured in Taiwan.
Make some pretty good modern horns. I tried a few out and they are decent. Not going to give you the same tone as a Mark VI or nice vintage horn, but they make some professional horns.

Jupiter- My first sax/clarinet teacher had a Jupiter.
They play fairly well. I have a Jupiter Alto and it has a pretty good sound, better than you would expect for the price.

Martin
An older brand that made some good saxophones.

Buescher
Another older brand. These days I play both a Buescher tenor and a Buescher alto.

There are a lot of Buescher saxophones on the market. Sometimes they don't cost very much. If they're in good shape, they can sound great.

They are less 'user friendly' than a modern horn. That means they'll be harder to play than a student model horn. You may need to spend some money on repairs. But you can also get a great

L.A. Sax
These horns often are colorfully painted, the paint will not help your sound though. More of a gimmick really.

Materials

Saxophones are usually made out of brass. Some are made of silver.

Many others are plated or painted. Plating can change your sound with black nickel or silver. They say that black nickel gives a darker sound.

However, paint will not help your sound. It covers the brass with something that
deadens the sound. I do not recommend the red/black/whatever color lacquer on saxophones. It may look cool, but it will NOT help your sound.

Features

High f#- nice to have, but not completely necessary since you can reach the same note with alternate fingerings.

Rolled tone holes- where the metal meets the leather pads on
the keys it is rolled to make a better connection that is less prone to
leaks.

Plating- silver and black nickel may help create a sound you want, paint will not

Cost

A decent sax will probably cost at least $800 or so. You might find a used one for less, but you might need to look into repairs also. Tenors will cost more than altos and baris more than tenors. Sopranos usually also cost more than tenors and altos.

It's good to support local music stores. If you don't have that option, you may want to order online or from a catalog if they have a good return policy. It's difficult to know in advance whether you'll like a certain saxophone.

Advice

Go and try out some different saxophones when you're looking to buy one. Germany, Japan,France, and the U.S. generally have a better reputation, so watch out for a name you've never heard of.

Remember though that not all saxophones, even of the same brand are identical. So try out a few and bring a friend, preferably a musician, to listen.

Here's a conversation I had about saxophone brands, much of it applies to everyone looking for a saxophone.

Ricardo
Hi , I'm about to get a new saxophone and I want to know about different brands to considder. I used to have a Silverstone alto sax, my fist and only one, but it was stolen not long ago... So I was wondering which one should i go for now, I've been playing for over a year, but i am really into it, already playing it live and about to record an album with it.

I would really appreciate any suggestions and feedback for known brands

not many are listed over there
such as king

Neal Battaglia
Kings can be good. There is more information in the comments of this page.

Ricardo
Do you believe those are better than Vito for example. Because i`ve got interesting offers for those

Neal Battaglia
it could be, depends on the condition
I would try both

Ricardo
right, i will see how it goes, any other brand like that?
i am not into getting a really expensive one right now.

Neal Battaglia
I like Bueschers, that's what I play

Ricardo
good to know
I guess is just about trying them out and see how it works

Neal Battaglia
correct

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Vintage Saxophones There are many brands of saxophones! Within those brands exist several types: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional. No one company has discovered how to make a perfect sax. Certain ones will suit your taste more than others. Try some out to see what you like.

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Cultural Visions: Essays in the History of Culture - Google Books

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Cultural Visions: Essays in the History of Culture - Google Books

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This collection opens with an inquiry into the assumptions and methods of the historical study of culture, comparing the new cultural history with the old. Thirteen essays follow, each defining a problem within a particular culture.

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6 Crucial Facts About Saxophone Reeds » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.

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6 Crucial Facts About Saxophone Reeds » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.

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1. The differences between the brands is not as big as you might think.

One of the first things to consider when purchasing a saxophone reed is which brand to buy. Every saxophone player has their personal favorite, but in terms of sound quality, the differences between the brands are minimal. Personally, I started with Vandoren reeds and have always come back to them as a personal choice. However, I have had success with Alexander Superia l reeds. Alexander Superial reeds are a little bit more expensive but they do have quite a good percentage of excellent reeds per box.

2. There are ways of predicting which reeds will play best.

Saxophone reeds have become quite pricy so it's important to know what to buy before you make a purchase. Some music stores will not let you pore over reed boxes to find the best reeds, but if they let you, there are a few signs of a bad reed which you should be aware of:

Discoloration of the grain

One side is thicker or thinner than the other (look at the blunt end, not the tip)

Fluctuating widths of grain

Rougher than normal grain on the cut side of the reed

3. Playing on hard reeds does not make you a more advanced player.

A common misconception about saxophone reeds is that the softer reed you play on, the less experienced you are playing the saxophone. The truth about saxophone reed thickness is that the higher you ascend in thickness, the easier it becomes to play altissimo notes and play loudly. However, harder reeds can make playing with vibrato and note bending remarkably difficult.

Working with softer reeds has helped many professional saxophone players with developing a better embouchure plus overall range and dynamic adaptability.

4. A good reed cannot play to its full potential if it's not properly matched to the mouthpiece.

The best saxophone instructor I have had (who I found through AngiesList.com) taught me an important, and commonly overlooked, fact: a good reed cannot play as well to its full potential if it is not a good fit with the mouthpiece. Mouthpieces with narrow tip openings usually work better with harder reeds and mouthpieces with wider tip opening work better with softer reeds.

5. Saxophone reeds play better when wet.

There are several different methods in which to wet a reed. Some players will just soak them in their mouth before playing. Others carry around a small container of water and let their reeds soak in the container before they play. A reed may become warped from drying out too quickly. A simple remedy to this ailment is to soak the reed in water. If this does fully solve the problem of the reed being warped, soaking the saxophone reed in alcohol has been known to do what water cannot.

6. If all else fails, a synthetic reed may be the best solution.

Another alternative to purchasing natural saxophone reeds is the synthetic saxophone reed. However, there is a general consensus among professional saxophone players that synthetic reeds sound different (ie: worse) than natural reeds. One plus of purchasing synthetic saxophone reeds is they will not warp, crack, or wear over time. It is up to you to decide whether you want a better sounding or a longer-lasting reed.

One synthetic saxophone reed that sounds close to the cane reed is that Hahn Fibre Reed. With the Hahn Fibre Reed, some players have experienced difficulty playing altissimo and higher notes are flat consistently.
No matter which saxophone reed you choose, be sure to, above all- have fun playing saxophone!

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6 Crucial Facts About Saxophone Reeds " Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.

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1. The differences between the brands is not as big as you might think. One of the first things to consider when purchasing a saxophone reed is which brand to buy. Every saxophone player has their personal favorite, but in terms of sound quality, the differences between the brands are minimal.

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Saxophone Museum, Saxophone Serial Numbers, Audio, Videos, and Reviews

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Saxophone Museum, Saxophone Serial Numbers, Audio, Videos, and Reviews

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Saxophone Museum, Saxophone Serial Numbers, Audio, Videos, and Reviews

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Saxophone.org - created by saxophone players for saxophone players. Features an active saxophone forum, buy sell trade your sax, saxophone museum, sax teachers and more.

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Details

Category: Band Training

Published on Saturday, 09 January 2010 08:46

Written by Bruce Gale

Hits: 38439

Introduction

While tuning is simple act of adjusting a length of tubing on a wind instrument (often by reference to a single note), intonation is an ongoing process in which a player strives to match the pitch of others in the ensemble during performance. Unfortunately, the general level of intonation of an ensemble is not simply dependent upon the listening skills of the performers - although this is probably the most important variable. (If this is the main problem in your band, check out the section on ear training). Intonation can also be influenced by a whole variety of factors.

Players with weak embouchers tend to play flat in the low register. Intonation is affected by the key (wind instrument designs tends to favor flats rather than sharps), the endurance of the players, and the quality of the available instruments. Intonation can even be affected by the extent to which performers who are resting keep their instruments warm by gently blowing through them (see the section on pitch and temperature).

Generally speaking, a weak embouchure will result in the low register being flat because the lip muscles are not held firm. A player with a badly formed embouchure also tends to overestimate the tension needed in the high register, sometimes causing him to play sharp. This can happen regardless of the intonation tendencies of the instrument.

The Brass Section

As I pointed out in the section on music and physics, brass instruments utilize various partials of the harmonic series in order to make them truly chromatic. Since several partials, notably the 7 th, 11 th and 13 th, are not in tune with the equal temperament scale, they are substituted with other lengths of tubing by means of rotary or piston valves. Use of the first valve lowers the fundamental by a tone, the second valve by a semitone and the third by a tone and a half. These valves can also be used in various combinations, thus giving the player no less than seven harmonic series from which to choose.

The Valve System

Unfortunately, if the instrument is constructed in such a way that the notes played with a single valve depressed are in tune, the notes played by using these valves in combination are not. The 1-3 combination, for example, is quite sharp while the 1-2-3 combination is very sharp. To compensate for this, the tubing attached to the third valve is made a bit longer. This puts the 1-3 and the 1-2-3 combination better in tune (though they are still a bit sharp), but results in the 2-3 combination being slightly flat. Further refinements include the addition of a fourth valve on euphoniums and tubas. Brass instruments tend to play sharp in their low register Trumpets and cornets sometimes come with a ring or trigger on the third valve slide (and sometimes also on the first) to provide further help, while many trombones also have trigger mechanisms. Even so, it is important that the player listens carefully and uses his embouchure to make fine adjustments when playing.

The inherent sharpness of the 1-3 and 1-2-3 combinations means that - all other things being equal - most brass instruments tend to play sharp in their lowest register. All things are not equal, of course, and beginners often tend to play flat in the low register instead.

Lipping

The ability of a player to use his lips to correct the pitch of a faulty note varies greatly between the higher and the lower brasses. This is because the business of forcing a column of air to vibrate at a frequency other than the one that should be produced naturally by the length of the tube (i.e. to sound certain upper partials) becomes progressively more difficult as the vibrating columns become longer. In this sense, a trumpet is much more under the control of the player's lips than just about any other brass instrument. Trombone players can deal with the problem by adjusting their trombone slide, while French horn players can approach the issue by varying their hand positions. Tuba and euphonium players, on the other hand, have no such means of overcoming the difficulty. This implies - at the very least - that whereas a trigger or ring mechanism fitted to a trumpet or cornet may be considered almost a luxury, the use of a fourth valve on the tuba or euphonium is essential.

The Trombone

Because of the way in which it is constructed, the trombone is probably the only musical instrument capable of being played perfectly in tune. By the same token, however, this same design can result in the trombone section of the band being the one where intonation problems can be most acute. The secret is in the placement of the slide positions.

The gap between slide positions increases as the position number increases. Many secondary school players tend to play second and third position notes flat, while notes produced on the fifth, sixth and seventh position tend to be sharp. Band directors often react to this problem by demanding that their students listen more carefully to what they are playing. True enough, but many beginners would also find it helpful to be informed that the gap between slide positions increases as the position number increases. In other words, the distance between sixth and seventh position is greater than the distance between the second and third position.

Buzzing on the Mouthpiece

Resolving these intonation issues requires time, effort and a great deal of patience. One exercise, which can be used to help develop proper breathing habits as well as improve endurance and general intonation, is to buzz on the mouthpiece. At first, students unused to this exercise may be unenthusiastic, particularly if any woodwind players present find the activity amusing. The benefits to be gained so far outweigh any short-term embarrassment, however, that the approach is well worth pursuing.

Students should be encouraged to take deep breaths and buzz loudly. Begin with long notes (any pitch will do at first), then proceed to intervals and finally to some well-known tunes.

Try to buzz a standard four part chorale. At first, everyone should buzz in unison. After some weeks of regular practice, however, it should be possible for the brass section to attempt to buzz a standard chorale in four-part harmony. Another good exercise with young students is to play "Name That Tune" at every lesson. This involves students taking turns buzzing a tune for the teacher or other students to identify. Players who can do this well will have little difficulty producing a centered tone when using their instrument.

Begin the brass section's chorale study by repeatedly playing the music in the normal way so that everyone has had ample opportunity to memorize his or her respective part. Then assign a four-man ensemble to play the chorale softly (an exercise in itself!), while everyone else attempts to buzz at the correct pitch. Do not forget to insist on proper breathing. Repeat the exercise several times, selecting a different quartet each time. Then, as a finale, ask everyone to pick up his or her instrument and play. You will be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the tonal quality of the section

Woodwinds

In some ways, the intonation problems facing the woodwind section far exceed those of the brasses. This is because there is less uniformity in the way woodwind instruments are designed. In fact, the pitch tendencies of the various instrumental subgroups can be quite different. As in the case of the brasses, compromises inherent in the various designs also result in a situation in which no woodwind instrument is perfectly in tune, even with itself.

Flutes, Clarinets, Oboes

Most modern flutes, for example, have tone holes that are equal in size, whereas in purely acoustical terms they should be graduated. It is therefore wise to be aware of potentially off-key notes. This helps prepare a player to make the necessary embouchure adjustments or employ alternative fingerings whenever they may be needed. The most seriously off-pitch note is usually C sharp in the treble staff and - to a lesser extent - C sharp above the staff.

Quiet clarinet passages tend to be sharp. The intonation tendencies of the flute and oboe are almost exactly the opposite of the clarinet. Flutes and oboes tend to play sharp in louder sections and in the high register, and flat in quieter sections and in the low register. Clarinets, on the other hand, tend to be flat on high notes and sharp on low ones. But while this is the basic tendency of the instrument, a weak embouchure or a lack of air support sometimes results in young clarinettists playing flat in the low register instead. Quiet clarinet passages will also tend to be sharp. Considering the fact that the clarinet, flute and oboe often play melodies in unison, the resulting intonation problems can be quite marked.

Added to this is the fact that flute players often double on the piccolo, an instrument whose intonation tendencies have more in common with the clarinet than the flute. A piccolo's middle register tends to be sharp, while its upper register tends to be flat.

Because sound wavelengths on high notes are very short, even small pitch variations within the flute and clarinet sections can produce a good deal of interference. The result can be much more annoying than if a group of bass clarinetists, baritone saxophone or even tuba players are slightly out of tune with each other.

It is not easy to "lip up" with a clarinet Clarinet players have yet another problem in that it is not so easy to "lip up" (actually done with the jaw) than on other instruments. In fact, trying to match a sharp pitch with a clarinet can actually hurt the lower lip. If the clarinet section sounds flat (and adjusting the barrels does not solve the problem), it may be wise to consider the possibility of getting the ensemble to tune down to match them. However, this strategy risks producing an excessively dark tone colour and may even create intonation problems elsewhere in the ensemble. It should therefore be done only as a last resort.

Bassoons

The bassoon has many intonation problems. For one thing, the difference in pitch between a cold bassoon and one that has been played for about half an hour is greater than on any other woodwind instrument. Lipping a note into tune is possible but, unlike most wind instruments, is not often recommended because it tends to change the tone quality. Another approach is to employ alternate fingerings, especially in slow passages. Notes in the extreme lower register of the bassoon tend to be sharp, as does the G and G-sharp in the middle and upper registers. When playing loudly the pitch tends to become flat, while playing softly tends to make the pitch become sharp.

Saxophones

Saxophones have fewer inherent pitch problems than most other woodwinds. Intonation problems can still be found within the saxophone section of the average secondary school wind band, however. This is probably because the instrument is so easy to play initially that many music directors tend to neglect the section. Built-in design flaws tend to result in the instrument playing flat on notes in the moderately high register (leger lines immediately above the treble clef) and sharp on those in the low register (just below the treble clef).

There are quite a few saxophonists who play sharp in the extreme upper register.

This is the reason inexperienced alto saxophone players in particular tend to play flat in the upper register and sharp in the lower one. Fourth line D on the saxophone is also usually flat, as is third space C sharp. In the extreme upper register there are also quite a few saxophonists who play sharp. However, this is not so much a design problem as it is the result of the player pinching the reed or biting down on the mouthpiece.

The quality of the instrument and how well it has been cared for are issues worth considering. If the keys open too wide, for example, the pitch will tend to be sharp. As in the case of clarinet players, young saxophonists also tend to play flat on loud passages and sharp on soft ones.

Reeds

Reeds also affect pitch. A hard reed may be more difficult to control, but it does assist in proper embouchure development. Even so, it is worth remembering that a hard reed will tend to play sharp while softer ones tend to play flat. Reeds that are old or water-soaked tend to become soft.

Unfortunately, because reeds are not as flexible as the lips of brass players, the woodwinds do not lend themselves to the sort of buzzing exercises I have advocated for the brass section. Double reed players can come fairly close, however. William Woodward ["Oboes Can Play in Tune" Bandworld Vol. 5 No.4, March-April 1990] has suggested two exercises designed to help develop a flexible oboe embouchure. The first consists of having the student play a 5-note scale on the reed alone. The second exercise is for the music director to play a pitch and have the student match it using only the reed.

Embouchures

Other woodwind players can also adjust their embouchures to control intonation. Clarinet and saxophone players who play too sharp are often biting on the mouthpiece, while those who are too flat can usually correct the problem by tightening their embouchures. Intonation problems on the flute, on the other hand, usually have to do with the angle of the air-stream. If the air-stream is directed too much into the flute the pitch will tend to be flat. Raising the head or (even better) moving the jaw should correct the problem. If too much of the air-stream is directed toward the outer edge of the embouchure hole the pitch will be sharp.

Chorales and the Full Band

The role of chorale playing in developing good intonation, not to mention correct phrasing and breathing habits, is well known. Unfortunately, few secondary school bands practice these exercises with any sort of consistency. In fact, it almost seems as if band members would rather visit a dentist and have a tooth drilled than play chorales with anything approaching enthusiasm. In some ways, it is hard not to be sympathetic.

Playing chorales may never become fun.

Chorales are invariably slow and uninteresting to young ears, and the time spent on them can irritate a school band anxious to play a favorite march or Benny Goodman transcription. Playing chorales may never become fun, but band directors should probably spend more time than they do inventing little variations that will cut down on the monotony while at the same time enhancing the band's listening skills.

Needless to say, chorales should be sung as well as played. By way of preparation, band members should be given plenty of opportunity to memorize their respective parts by playing the chorale through several times. The members of the ensemble should then be asked to sing and play the chorale alternately on their respective instruments. As an additional variation, ask the brass section to play the first two bars and the woodwinds to play the third and fourth bars and so on. This encourages band members to listen to each other and forces everyone to be on their toes with correctly pitched entrances.

Try adapting a march or other largely chordal piece.

Richard Otto [Effective Methods of Building the High School Band, Parker Publishing, New York, 1971] has suggested yet another approach to good intonation that does not involve playing a chorale at all. Instead, the band director selects a march or other largely chordal work familiar to the band and asks the players to sustain the first note of each measure as a whole note, proceeding in this way from measure to measure for the first four to eight bars. This approach has a huge advantage over the traditional chorale, since it helps to make a direct link between the intonation exercise and the music being prepared for performance.

An Instant "Chorale"

The following instant 'chorale' can be used to check the intonation of a band on some basic diatonic chords. It is a simple three-part round that is easy to memorise and can be played in virtually any key. It is written out below for Bb clarinets or trumpets, but can easily be adapted for other sections of the band (such as the trombone section), or even the entire ensemble. It serves as a good warm-up when no suitable chorale is immediately available.

Notice the successive unisons in the third bar between the first and second voice, the first and third voice and the second and third voice. These provide a useful means of checking for intonation, as does the final unison in the fourth bar.

Numerous variations on this basic scheme are possible, such as varying the rhythm, beginning with a descending scale or playing in a minor key. The following example is much more difficult than it looks to play well because of the augmented and diminished chords created by the minor tonality.

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Details Category: Band Training Published on Saturday, 09 January 2010 08:46 Written by Bruce Gale Hits: 38439 While tuning is simple act of adjusting a length of tubing on a wind instrument (often by reference to a single note), intonation is an ongoing process in which a player strives to match the pitch of others in the ensemble during performance.

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The Problem With Inequality, According to Adam Smith - The Atlantic

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The Problem With Inequality, According to Adam Smith - The Atlantic

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The allure of extreme wealth can contort human sympathies, causing the public to admire the wealthy and shun the poor.

Wikimedia Commons

One of the more memorable statements of Barack Obama's presidency thus far has been his claim, in a high-profile December 2013 speech, that great and growing economic inequality is "the defining challenge of our time." In making his case Obama appealed to the authority of a seemingly unlikely ally: Adam Smith, the purported founding father of laissez-faire capitalism, who is widely thought to have advocated unbridled greed and selfishness in the name of allowing the invisible hand of the market to work its magic.

Many a scholar has made a career, in recent decades, by pointing out that this view of Smith is a gross caricature. It has often been noted, for instance, that Smith never once used the term "laissez-faire" or even the term "capitalism," and that his two books- The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776)-are full of passages lamenting the potential moral, social, and political ills of what he called "commercial society."

It is also indisputable that the alleviation of poverty was one of Smith's central concerns, the common caricature notwithstanding. Even a cursory reading of The Wealth of Nations should make this point abundantly clear. Smith states, explicitly and repeatedly, that the true measure of a nation's wealth is not the size of its king's treasury or the holdings of an affluent few but rather the wages of "the laboring poor." In a passage that Obama quoted in his speech, Smith declares that it is a matter of simple "equity" that "they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged."

Yet there remains a broad consensus, even among scholars of the period, that Smith was concerned by poverty but not by economic inequality itself. According to this view, Smith hoped to ensure that all members of society could satisfy their basic needs, but he was untroubled by relative differences in income and wealth. As long as everyone has food on their tables, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads, the thinking goes, it does not matter if some have far more than others. Indeed, it is often claimed that Smith saw economic inequality as a manifestly good thing.

Such a reading is not entirely unwarranted. Like many of his self-proclaimed followers in the 20th century, Smith did suggest that the great wealth of the few generally benefits the rest of society, at least in material terms and over the long run. In some cases, their luxuries trickle down in an almost literal sense: "The houses, the furniture, the clothing of the rich, in a little time, become useful to the inferior and middling ranks of people," Smith writes, offering the examples of the family seat of the Duke of Somerset, which had been turned into an inn on the Bath Road, and the marriage bed of James I, which in Smith's time served as "the ornament of an alehouse at Dunfermline." More broadly, he claims that the conspicuous consumption of the rich encourages productivity and provides employment for many. So a degree of economic inequality does have its advantages, in Smith's view.

What has received little attention, even by those who approach Smith's thought from the contemporary left, is that he also identified some deep problems with economic inequality. The concerns that he voiced are, as I recently wrote in an article for the American Political Science Review, interestingly different from those that dominate contemporary discourse. When people worry about inequality today, they generally worry that it inhibits economic growth, prevents social mobility, impairs democracy, or runs afoul of some standard of fairness. These are the problems that Obama identified in his speech, and the ones that have been highlighted by academics ranging from Thomas Piketty to Joseph Stiglitz to Robert Putnam.

None of these problems, however, were Smith's chief concern-that economic inequality distorts people's sympathies, leading them to admire and emulate the very rich and to neglect and even scorn the poor. Smith used the term "sympathy" in a somewhat technical sense to denote the process of imaginatively projecting oneself into the situation of another person, or of putting oneself into another's shoes. Smith's "sympathy" is thus akin to the contemporary use of the word "empathy." And he claimed that, due to a quirk of human nature, people generally find it easier to sympathize with joy than with sorrow, or at least with what they perceive to be joy and sorrow.

As a result, Smith held, people sympathize more fully and readily with the rich than the poor: "the rich man glories in his riches, because ... they naturally draw upon him the attention of the world," while "the poor man goes out and comes in unheeded, and when in the midst of a crowd is in the same obscurity as if shut up in his own hovel." Not only are people far more likely to notice the rich than the poor, according to Smith, but they are also far more likely to approve of them, to admire them, and to emulate them; indeed, he devoted an entire chapter of The Theory of Moral Sentiments to demonstrating that this is the case.

What's more, Smith saw this distortion of people's sympathies as having profound consequences: It undermines both morality and happiness. First, morality. Smith saw the widespread admiration of the rich as morally problematic because he did not believe that the rich in fact tend to be terribly admirable people. On the contrary, he portrayed the "superior stations" of society as suffused with "vice and folly," "presumption and vanity," "flattery and falsehood," "proud ambition and ostentatious avidity." In Smith's view, the reason why the rich generally do not behave admirably is, ironically, that they are widely admired anyway (on account of their wealth). In other words, the rich are not somehow innately vicious people. Rather, their affluence puts them in a position in which they do not have to behave morally in order to earn the esteem of others, most of whom are dazzled and enchanted by their riches.

Thus, it is precisely the presence of economic inequality, and the distortion of people's sympathies that attends it, that allows-perhaps even encourages-the rich to spurn the most basic standards of moral conduct. Smith goes so far as to proclaim that the "disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition" is "the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments."

Smith also believed that the tendency to sympathize with the rich more easily than the poor makes people less happy. As I am reminded every year by my students, those who encounter Smith's writings for the first time are usually quite surprised to learn that he associated happiness with tranquility-a lack of internal discord-and insisted not only that money can't buy happiness but also that the pursuit of riches generally detracts from one's happiness. He speaks, for instance, of "all that leisure, all that ease, all that careless security, which are forfeited forever" when one attains great wealth, and of "all that toil, all that anxiety, all those mortifications which must be undergone" in the pursuit of it. Happiness consists largely of tranquility, and there is little tranquility to be found in a life of toiling and striving to keep up with the Joneses.

Why, then, do the vast majority of people spend the vast majority of their lives longing for and pursuing wealth? Smith saw it as obvious that people do not work so hard in order "to supply the necessities of nature"-that is, to obtain food, clothing, and shelter-because "the wages of the meanest laborer can afford them." Rather, they want great wealth because of the attention it brings them: "It is the vanity, not the ease, or the pleasure, which interests us." In other words, it is the fact that people sympathize more easily with the rich that leads them to want to become rich themselves, and to (wrongly) assume that the rich must be supremely happy. "When we consider the condition of the great, in those delusive colors in which the imagination is apt to paint it, it seems to be almost the abstract idea of a perfect and happy state," he writes.

All of this said, it is not entirely obvious that the inhabitants of today's commercial societies admire the rich as uncritically as Smith expected they would. It is true that on the political right the wealthy are often lauded as innovators and job creators. Indeed, personal wealth is the main (perhaps sole) qualification of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. On the other hand, there is a tendency on the political left to regard the rich as greedy, rapacious one-percenters, and many on the right join in the left's suspicion of the rich, often inspired by communitarian or religious impulses. It is doubtful that many hedge-fund managers suffer from a surfeit of uncritical approval.

Still, much of Smith's analysis rings true today. The amount of media coverage of the lives and lifestyles of the rich and famous should suffice to confirm that even if people in today's commercial societies do not always admire the wealthy, they do generally sympathize with them in Smith's sense of the term-that is, people tend to put themselves in the wealthy's shoes-far more than they do with other people. Further, even if people do not always admire the wealthy either as individuals or as a group, there is little question that they are disposed to admire and pursue wealth itself with every bit of the fervor and doggedness that Smith expected. Finally, the other half of the distortion of people's sympathies that he describes-the tendency to unduly ignore the poor-is very much still present.

It is perhaps predictable that history's most famous theorist of commercial society would have something to add to contemporary debates about economic inequality. Given his reputation, however, it is striking that Smith had more profound and original things to say in opposition to inequality than in its defense.

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Dennis C. Rasmussen is an associate professor of political science at Tufts University.

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The Problem With Inequality, According to Adam Smith

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The allure of extreme wealth can contort human sympathies, causing the public to admire the wealthy and shun the poor. One of the more memorable statements of Barack Obama's presidency thus far has been his claim, in a high-profile December 2013 speech, that great and growing economic inequality is "the defining challenge of our time."

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Meter As Rhythm - Christopher Hasty - Google Books

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Meter As Rhythm - Christopher Hasty - Google Books

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In this book Christopher Hasty presents a striking new theory of musical duration. Drawing on insights from modern "process" philosophy, he advances a fully temporal perspective in which meter is released from its mechanistic connotations and recognized as a concrete, visceral agent of musical expression.