The worst record covers ever

Excellent post, eventually, CraigM! Now, that the tone is at more civilised levels, I have to admit you did a rather thorough study of the Parla figure in this forum.

You focus on the lack of self-awareness and, based on the analysis (not the evidence necessarily), I try to find Parla's picture there. Thanks for the "honour" to go to such a detailed research.

Unfortunately, after what I have "suffered" from your posts, I don't intend to defend myself anymore. In this forum, with certain members, debate is vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas. What I mean is that we are far even from the point to "agree to disagree".

Regarding the "Erebus" word: The word with capital "E" means, in the Greek mythology, the ancient God (or deity) of the darkness. However, with the small "e" means, in ancient Greek, the...darkness. It's a synonym of the word "darkness". As English is not my native language, I thought I could use it with small "e" as a poetic synonym of "darkness".

Concerning your name, I am extremely sorry. I didn't notice it, since, normally, I have to respond in a hasty way due to my hectic schedule. Despite you may not believe it, since I have lived for years in US, you are the first Craig I come to an extensive debate. Again, my sincere apologies.

Finally, you did not have to go all this "way towards explaining why I get the reactions I do". I know very well, from the very beginning. It's not the lack of self-awareness that produces such reactions and makes me persist on defending the views I bring to this forum. But, enough about Parla. We have to go back to Music and, if possible, to Classical Music only.

However, since the tone might allow it, I want, first, to state that, if you and any other ally of yours want to believe that everything in Music is a matter of opinion and there is no objective way to identify a great composition from another, is fine with me as long as it is an opinion and not a fact. So, if I am allowed, may I kindly ask you: Is the above belief your opinion or a fact that I and anybody else, dealing with Music (and Art), should respect and accept it?

Respectfully,

Parla

And for you to state otherwise would also be an opinion and not a fact.

Respect it? Yes. Accept it? No. People, for the most part, only go on the internet exchange and argue points of view. Nobody is twisting anybody’s arm, telling him what to believe in.

I will try to keep the tone respectful. 

And I will try to answer your question by way of an analogy. Claiming that classical music is superior to any other form of music is rather like saying that the moon is inhabited by little green men. It’s self-evidently the case that both statements are false, because there is no evidence whatsoever to support them. So it would be wrong to say that I 'believe' or I am 'of the opinion' that the relative merits of different genres of music are purely a matter of taste – it’s an absolute fact, in the same way that it’s not my opinion that there are no little green men, but something which is self-evidently the case.

Of course, if someone makes an assertion that these little green men do actually exist, then the onus will be upon them to produce suitable evidence – photographic, perhaps, or hard data on their breeding patterns and social structures. If they fail to do so, then the only conclusion is that that person is mad, a wind-up merchant or simply a charlatan.

Likewise, someone who states that there is an objective basis for claiming that classical music is superior to any other form of music has the onus of producing evidence to support such a audacious claim. I have asked you directly a number of times to provide some of this evidence, but have consistently refused to do so – and I take this as confirmation that such evidence doesn’t exist.

Over to you.

You are absolutely right, JAH, but some members like it that way. I simply respond to repeated questions on the same subject.

Craig, thanks for keeping the tone respectful. It's essential to reach, possibly, to some point of understanding.

Allow me to dismiss the "analogy" you used as at least irrelevant, inappropriate and even funny (our violist and cellist have a very good laugh). So, if I understand well, you claim that the statement "the relative merits of different genres of music are purely a matter of taste" (taste and opinion are related, are the same or different terms, by the way?) is "an absolute fact" on the basis of being something "self-evident". Is this what you mean?

Over to you, (unfortunately).

Parla

I disagree here. Although I agree that Classical music is NOT superior to all other forms of music, I don’t find that to be an inarguable fact that can be stated without any required explanation. To be fair to Parla, I’d say that we are just as obligated to provide evidence for our claims as Parla is for his statements in opposition. In other words, evidence should be provided from both sides of the debate.

With all your experience and acquaintances why is it you post so much tosh?

It is, surely, an absolute fact that, at the end of the day, at the final countdown, etc, etc, it all boils down to one's personal taste, even within the rarefied world of classical music. I can attest to that having very little taste for the Baroquerie that some on this board have so much praise for.

I find it interesting that the people who were once condemning Parla for passing his opinions off as facts are now committing that very same crime.