…the “distress” to [classical] music lovers when a classical composition is submitted to the “slurring saxophone” and the “jungle discords of the clarinet.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Dennis’ remedy for such a high musical crime? For the first offence a radio station would have its license suspended. A second offence would see the license revoked.<\/p>\n
These are pretty serious penalties for what on the surface seem like minor offences<\/em>. However, if you think about the 1920s style of saxophone playing, and then imagine that playing Bach, maybe I can see his point. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\nI don’t see how Mr. Dennis managed to get himself so bent out of shape about the clarinet. Does he not realize that it’s been a staple in the orchestra nearly since its invention? Mozart liked the instrument enough to write compositions for it.<\/p>\n
Really though, it’s obviously not the clarinet that Dennis doesn’t like per se. It’s what’s being played with it: swing music. Then how come Dennis didn’t rile about trumpets or trombones?<\/p>\n
In any event, I suspect that Benny Goodman must have been on the top of Dennis’ hate list. This must have especially been true when Goodman played Carnegie Hall.<\/p>\n
Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938<\/h3>\n