# Tillie Miller



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

"Tillie Miller is odd and queer, but not peculiar." My sisters and I would bait and annoy people by describing the quirks of Tillie Miller, an eccentric, even bizarre, woman of extremely strongly-held preferences and dislikes--no middle ground for Tillie! In elucidating Miss (always Miss) Miller's rigor in matters of taste, we could only chant the monotonous refrain that begins this thread. In hopes that there are others out there who are also familiar with Tillie, though perhaps under another name, I will begin describing Tillie's musical preferences and loathings. Please feel free to submit your questions concerning her tastes, or your assured observations on her choices in other areas.

Except for a smattering of some of the lesser Baroque composers-the Scarlattis, Telemann, Corelli--Tillie's musical world began with Beethoven, then consolidates with Mendelssohn and Schumann. She loathes both Liszt and Wagner, yet also abominates Brahms. Most Russian composers leave her cold, though she loves Russia itself; the exceptions being Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff. From Glinka on through Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich--her only reaction is a shuddering indifference. Debussy appeals, Ravel she reviles. In opera she prefers Meyerbeer to Mozart, yet loves Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutti to excess. Puccini's Butterfly sends her into transport, while Boheme she dismisses coldly. As you can see, Tillie Miller is most odd and queer, but not peculiar. Any clues as to what animates this strange creature?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

(This thread, if it becomes a thread, will be an experiment--results to be determined.)

Tillie Miller visits the Zoo (loves the zoo). She immediately visits the giraffes, the mongoose, deer. She scrupulously separates the sheep, which she dearly loves, from the loathed goats. Alligators, yes; crocodiles, no. She delights in the antics of the gibbon and chimpanzee and gorilla, while coldly avoiding the hapless orangutan. The racoon, the opossum intrigue her, as does the armadillo, yet the bears, wolves, foxes, cougars leave her cold. She is, indeed, odd and queer, but not peculiar.

Anyone who gains insight into Tillie Miller's preferences is asked to not disclose her inner motivation, but rather should offer their own examples of Tillie's likes and dislikes, in whatever areas they choose.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Never heard of Tillie Miller before, but I think a great book introducing children to classical music could be written with Tillie as the person to lead them through various silly situations as they explore composers.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

*Tillie Miller goes to the Art Museum*

OK, another attempt to get people involved in decoding Tillie's enthusiasms and loathings. She recently visited several art museums, looking for artists and genres and methods that might please her. A big fan of Renaissance art and both Impressionism and Expressionism, she avoids landscapes, portraits, and Plein Air works. Among the older painters, she appreciates Giotto and Botticelli, but scorns Giorgione and Leonardo. Among Dutch artists, she turns away in disgust from Rembrandt and Hals, but showers affection on Hobbema and Vermeer. More recent artists that Tillie likes are Picasso, Motherwell, Pollack, 0'Keeffe, and Stella. Klee is a favorite, but Miro, Gris, Kandinsky, Warhol, Diebenkorn appall. She says she prefers green and yellow to be predominant in paintings, at the expense of red, blue, purple, orange. That may account for her love of Villa-Lobos as a composer. Strange woman, odd and queer, yet not peculiar.

She finishes in the sculpture garden, admiring works by Della Robbia, Donatello, Giacometti, and Moore, but having to be restrained from spitting upon those of Bernini, Rodin, Calder, even the mighty Michelangelo, and is thus escorted from the grounds.

Again, if you have gained insight into Tillie's eccentricities of taste, I urge you to not reveal your insight but to instead enter the game.


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