[Tethers/heretical] Music Tethers worldwide...

[ISNorden]

While trying to write up an opera-house Tether for my campaign, it occurred to me: Israfel (being an old Archangel) runs some of the Tethers that belong to Eli or Novalis in canon. Starting with the ones listed in Liber Castellorum, I decided that these Tethers should lead to the Divine Conservatory:

• Stradivarius' workshop in Italy (major).
• Karternort Theater, where Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was first performed (major).
• The original site of Woodstock (originally major, has declined to average; shared with Novalis; since both the music and the peaceful idealism mattered at that concert).

Of other potential Tethers to Music around the world, which do you think are most likely to attract Israfel's attention? Here are a few of my ideas to get the ball rolling:

• Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
• The opera house in Sydney, Australia.

Would you nominate any other places (man-made or natural) that I've overlooked? Feel free to add them here!

[Rocket Man]

I'd actually leave Stradivarius' workshop in Eli's hands, myself, since it was a place to create instruments rather than music, per se.

Some other possibilities that come to mind might be:

* Bayreuth, where Wagner introduced a new style of epic opera to the world.

* A forgotten site near the Red Sea, where Miriam sang of the Israelites' deliverance from the Egyptians. (Once a Faith Tether, passed to Israfel during Khalid's long exile.)

*The Cavern in Liverpool, the site perhaps most intimately associated with the Beatles. (Except possibly for the Abbey Road studios of the Apple Corps, which may be more Media or Creation oriented.)

* The Church of St Nicholas, in Oberndorf, Austria, where "Silent Night" was first written and performed. Anecdote has it that the song was scored for voice and guitar because the organ was broken, and Father Joseph Mohr did not want to do without music for the Christmas Eve service.

[JCD]

I agree with the Stradavarius thing and I would also be loathe to give Woodstock to anyone else. It rings of Novalis through and through.
The music was incidental to the message (Those that can remember any of it...)

I'd choose places where music hada huge impact. A place where a song is made is a good choice, albeit there would be a tension with Eli about who gets it.

Case in point: Where the Hallelujah Chorus was first sung for George II, he was so moved that he stood during the performance of the main chorus. And ever since, it has been tradition that people stand during that Song. So that might be a tether. I don't know enough music history to know of other occasions where something like this would happen.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by JCD

I agree with the Stradavarius thing and I would also be loathe to give Woodstock to anyone else. It rings of Novalis through and through.
The music was incidental to the message (Those that can remember any of it...)

Yes. Much of the music was incredible, but the strongest "vibe" associated with the Woodstock Festival is how 500,000 people came together in peace and joy for three days, even when the weather (and the acid) turned bad.

"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing *but* fun and music, and I God bless you for it! " -- Max Yasgur.

"Who are your brothers and sisters? The ones to the right and left of you ..." -- Janis Joplin

[Azel]

Ooh, I wanna give you a fun one! How about John Cage's song entitled: 4'33" ?

Here's a rundown of a website explaining it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4′33″

It's basically the artist taking any instrument and... not playing it. The point is to let the audience hush itself (in the expectation to hear the instrument played) and thus force themselves to listen to the background "music" of the world around them. Almost like awakening modern humanity to the music of the Symphony around them -- or at least try. ;)

Coincidentally, the first performance of this piece was also at Woodstock, NY.

And, being from the SF Bay Area, I would be remiss not promoting The Fillmore (or Billy Graham Center).

or, perhaps more fun, Lotta's Fountain from Luisa Tetrazzini -- here's an article why it's important:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-2...tta-s-fountain

Likely a tether to Novalis about humans coming together, rebuilding a city, and music soothing their hearts. Wouldn't surprise me if Novalis gives Israfel Lotta's Fountain as a tether on Israfel's start as an Archangel. Besides, Novalis has a gigantic tether in Golden Gate Park nearby (a wholly man-made development, slightly larger than NYC Central Park!).

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by ISNorden

Of other potential Tethers to Music around the world, which do you think are most likely to attract Israfel's attention? Here are a few of my ideas to get the ball rolling:

• Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
• The opera house in Sydney, Australia.

For exactly the same reasons as the above three, Massey Hall in Toronto.

I would expect that 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan would be another recent Tether to Music. That's where Motown (both the style and the label) started - nowadays the building is called "Hitsville U.S.A."

[ISNorden]

Originally Posted by robkelk

For exactly the same reasons as the above three, Massey Hall in Toronto.

I would expect that 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan would be another recent Tether to Music. That's where Motown (both the style and the label) started - nowadays the building is called "Hitsville U.S.A."

Good suggestions all round, since they show that Israfel's Word isn't limited to one musical style. Keep up the great work!

[Acolyte]

Ringing Rocks Park in Pennsylvania is a definite must (possibly shared with Stone, or perhaps they had a little scuffle over it). In my head, it's always been a Tether to Stone whose musically-inclined Seneschal would have been a contender with Israfel for Angel of Music had he not been already Word-Bound to the Tether. Makes you wonder--music does work startlingly well at unifying people, but under the control of now-Malakite David for centuries, how much different would Music be today?

A bizarre Tether could involve the band that played on as the Titanic sank. I thought that was a myth, but the internet seems to suggest it actually happened, and apparently the bandleader's body was recovered and is buried in England (which would make a more sensible Tether locus than someplace on the bottom of the ocean). Alternatively, the story could be recast as a result of the actions of an angelic Servitor of Music (but I dislike that; I prefer the stories of greatest heroism and villainy from human history to still have been acted out by humans in the IN universe).

A more modern-day Tether could center on famous musicals--enough people have watched "The Sound of Music" to make a Tether on some random Austrian hillslope (or, more oddly, wherever they actually filmed that scene). Broadway might host a Music Tether, but it's probably atrophying with the fall of the musical as the height of mass media (perhaps Nybbas was willing to sacrifice the musical from his arsenal to damage Israfel's influence on other parts of his Word). Maybe there's a Tether on the oldest surviving reel of "The Wizard of Oz" or somesuch, locked away in a basement in DC, NYC, or (more heretically) LA (!).

[Rocket Man]

A site in Yale University where the English composer Edward Elgar was presented with an honorary degree in 1905 ... and where the "Land of Hope and Glory" theme from his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was first used as a commencement theme.

[ISNorden]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

A site in Yale University where the English composer Edward Elgar was presented with an honorary degree in 1905 ... and where the "Land of Hope and Glory" theme from his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was first used as a commencement theme.

Bravo on that choice; a single tune becoming that entwined with a culture's rites of passage would indeed matter to Israfel. Keep up the good suggestions!