Here's a thought experiment: What if the year were now 1914, and the Carpenters had been around producing their marvelous work in the 1870s?
What do you think would be their predominant genre? Whose music would they be influenced by? Richard would certainly be pianist, but would Karen be drumming? And if so....in pants? Without amplification, how could her soft voice project over the other instruments? How would you get to hear of them? How would you get to their venues? Would they perform overseas?
With Edison yet to come on the scene, there'd be nothing in the way of recordings left for posterity.
I feel the Carpenters would have ended up as mere 'here today and gone-too-soon' legends whose fame - spread by word of mouth and in newspapers and journals - could only be truly appreciated by those who were around at the time. Printed scores would have to suffice, but assuming their music took on a popular rather than a classical bent, would Richard's marvelous arrangements have been published in such detail that future generations of musicians could even begin to recapture some of their aural perfection?
Surely we, Karen, and Richard, are so very fortunate by fluke of birth for having been around a century later.
What do you think would be their predominant genre? Whose music would they be influenced by? Richard would certainly be pianist, but would Karen be drumming? And if so....in pants? Without amplification, how could her soft voice project over the other instruments? How would you get to hear of them? How would you get to their venues? Would they perform overseas?
With Edison yet to come on the scene, there'd be nothing in the way of recordings left for posterity.
I feel the Carpenters would have ended up as mere 'here today and gone-too-soon' legends whose fame - spread by word of mouth and in newspapers and journals - could only be truly appreciated by those who were around at the time. Printed scores would have to suffice, but assuming their music took on a popular rather than a classical bent, would Richard's marvelous arrangements have been published in such detail that future generations of musicians could even begin to recapture some of their aural perfection?
Surely we, Karen, and Richard, are so very fortunate by fluke of birth for having been around a century later.
Last edited:
