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Vanguard Variorum, May 1946

8            VANGUARD VARIORU
tutes having read it. . . If it is true (as Shaw and some other experts claim) that I am ignorant of Marxism, then this ignorance must inevitably show in the essay itself, and can be exposed, from internal evidence. Thus far no sch exposition has been attempted; instead, there are only remarks that Marxist texts are not listed at the caboose of the article. The only fitting response to this is to refuse to believe that those who make this remark have read any Socialist texts unless they can show their familiarity by specifically contesting statements I have made about Marxism.
VANGUARD AMATEUR:  Considering that the VAPA poll dealt with material of much wider general interest than the Pound discussion, I am amazed at the comparative response. Twelve answers is a pitiful record, even when one allows for the additional 3 [cents] per ballot required of the voter...I am in agreement with Kennedy on the scoring system; his Fantasy Review method of grading on a basis of 10 to 4, while no less arbitrary, shows both position and distribution of the votes very fairly.
Widner's remarks on "The Hills and the Heights" I think very pointed indeed, albeit remarkably gentle.
Gershwin is actually one of the few composers who failed, and very completely, at the incorporation of jazz into standard forms. He did succeed in incorporating the Broadway idioms of his time -the level of intensity of his jazz never goes deeper than the Charleston theme in An American in Paris, and his most popular tune, the adagio from the Rhapsody, is pure balladry of the Stardust kind - but his only real musical success depends upon that part of his work which is not essentially jazz at all. As a serious composer he belongs, along with Loeffler and Griffes, to the small school of American Impressionists, and his themes never get beyond the most superficial of Tin Pan Alley emotions, and are inconsiderable beside those of such men as Milhaud, or even Ellington. I think it indicative that Widner mentioned Porgy and Bess as hisexample of a good jazz-standard amalgam; for that opera is the only work Gershwin wrote which comes ever to the margins of the fundamental bases of negro music, and it does so, in the main, through spirituals treated in an Impressionist manner, and fails when attempting jazz per se. It is, indeed, a kind of rewrite of Charpentier's Louise into which some very uninteresting musical comedy tunes have been introduced in about the same was Artur Blord was given ten-day poison.
GLOSSARY:  As an afterhought to Widner's common-sense pessimism on the atom bomb, I offer a brief guide to the new language which the Atomic Age has fathered:
"World destruction" - the other fellow's fault.
"The last war" - the next war.
"Secret information" - what we're going to do with it.
"Peace" - a new source of technological unemployment.
"Unless we realize . . " - Unless the other fellow realizes.
"World Government" - Ours
"UNO" - a shortcut to disagreement.
"nuclear physicist" - member of subversive organization.
"suicide" - disagreeing with us.
"atom" - something smaller than a diplomat.
"democracy" - violation of the Espionage Act.
Applying these definitions to the Congressional Record, articles in Pravda, and speeches in the House of Commons will help to close up that gap that Burnham points out between the stated meaning and the real meaning of political documents.

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8 VANGUARD VARIORU tutes having read it. . . If it is true (as Shaw and some other experts claim) that I am ignorant of Marxism, then this ignorance must inevitably show in the essay itself, and can be exposed, from internal evidence. Thus far no sch exposition has been attempted; instead, there are only remarks that Marxist texts are not listed at the caboose of the article. The only fitting response to this is to refuse to believe that those who make this remark have read any Socialist texts unless they can show their familiarity by specifically contesting statements I have made about Marxism. VANGUARD AMATEUR: Considering that the VAPA poll dealt with material of much wider general interest than the Pound discussion, I am amazed at the comparative response. Twelve answers is a pitiful record, even when one allows for the additional 3 [cents] per ballot required of the voter...I am in agreement with Kennedy on the scoring system; his Fantasy Review method of grading on a basis of 10 to 4, while no less arbitrary, shows both position and distribution of the votes very fairly. Widner's remarks on "The Hills and the Heights" I think very pointed indeed, albeit remarkably gentle. Gershwin is actually one of the few composers who failed, and very completely, at the incorporation of jazz into standard forms. He did succeed in incorporating the Broadway idioms of his time -the level of intensity of his jazz never goes deeper than the Charleston theme in An American in Paris, and his most popular tune, the adagio from the Rhapsody, is pure balladry of the Stardust kind - but his only real musical success depends upon that part of his work which is not essentially jazz at all. As a serious composer he belongs, along with Loeffler and Griffes, to the small school of American Impressionists, and his themes never get beyond the most superficial of Tin Pan Alley emotions, and are inconsiderable beside those of such men as Milhaud, or even Ellington. I think it indicative that Widner mentioned Porgy and Bess as hisexample of a good jazz-standard amalgam; for that opera is the only work Gershwin wrote which comes ever to the margins of the fundamental bases of negro music, and it does so, in the main, through spirituals treated in an Impressionist manner, and fails when attempting jazz per se. It is, indeed, a kind of rewrite of Charpentier's Louise into which some very uninteresting musical comedy tunes have been introduced in about the same was Artur Blord was given ten-day poison. GLOSSARY: As an afterhought to Widner's common-sense pessimism on the atom bomb, I offer a brief guide to the new language which the Atomic Age has fathered: "World destruction" - the other fellow's fault. "The last war" - the next war. "Secret information" - what we're going to do with it. "Peace" - a new source of technological unemployment. "Unless we realize . . " - Unless the other fellow realizes. "World Government" - Ours "UNO" - a shortcut to disagreement. "nuclear physicist" - member of subversive organization. "suicide" - disagreeing with us. "atom" - something smaller than a diplomat. "democracy" - violation of the Espionage Act. Applying these definitions to the Congressional Record, articles in Pravda, and speeches in the House of Commons will help to close up that gap that Burnham points out between the stated meaning and the real meaning of political documents.