On the seven scale notes

[MASCARO at HUMnet.UCLA.EDU]

WillL notes:

>Thing is, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW repeatedly deals with the idea that the seven 
>tones
>of the Western scale are a kind of "elect" oppressing the preterite (in C major,
>foax, that's them white keys lording it over the black keys). In the great
>Beethoven/Rossinni debate, one of the arguments against Rossinni is that he
>doesn't represent a democracy of the TWELVE tones in the chromatic scale, 
>always
>favoring those diatonic scale tones.  Our GR narrator, however, has a much more
>flexible sense of democracy, not willing to limit himself to a mere twelve tone
>octave, but favoring instruments that hardly favor any set tones -- most notably
>you kazoo (how do ya get a C on that?  Uh, just blow, man.) 

Along these lines of a progressive--democratization--of acceptable musical tones, 
can we see the movement from seven diatonic tones being democratized by the 12 
tone scale, further democratized by micro-tonists and the infinitely variable tones 
of electronic music (remember the 'Scope!) etc. culminating in John Cage's dictum 
that: "Any sound can become music by being placed in a musical context"?  Is 
Cage's 4' 37" the ultimate national anthem?

john m