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Re: Musical snobbery (was Re: Songs for BL)

On Thu, 11 Jun 1998 D.LANCASTER@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> So the less you know the more you enjoy?   Ignorance is bliss?

Ah no! What I said was that someone shouldn't have to understand music 
for it to make an impact. This is not the same as saying that music can 
only be appreciated by people who don't know anything about it. What I do 
object to 
is that music "intellectuals" seem to be of the opinion that music makes 
more impact on them than on the average layman.

> Would 
> you apply the same criteria for car maintainance or brain surgery...

There is a difference between science and art. Music should certainly not 
be treated in the same way as medicine or motor maintenance. 

> If everyone was content to accept music at face 
> value and dispense with understanding we wouldn't have any composers 
> and there would be far fewer conductors around...

Agreed, but composers are the input to a piece of music. What makes an 
impact on the audience is the output: the performance. Whilst it may be 
necessary to understand music theory to provide the input, it should not 
be necessary (IMHO) to understand it (fully) to benefit from the output.

> More commercial music (pop, musicals, Edrich Seibert arrangements 
> etc.) is intended to be more immediately accessible so generally speaking 
> doesn't have so many layers to grasp.  It is less complex and more 
> likely to drive you insane after four or five hearings.   (Jazz is 
> altogether another matter since it is different every time).

Mmmm. The general public never seems to tire of the Spice Girls' hits. 
This is probably because (in general), the Spice Girls provide music at a 
level that matches the musical understanding of the general public. More 
seasoned listeners (i.e. those who can pick out the many underlying 
layers in the music) may prefer one of the great "classical" composers 
whose music matches their level of musical understanding. However, I 
think that many music "intellectuals" have become so obsessed with the 
technicalities of music that they overlook the fact that music is 
supposed to be expressive. I think composers like Harrison Birtwhistle 
have cottoned on to this and produce incredibly complex "music" with no 
real expression or emotion just to satisfy intellectual demand. And good 
luck to him! If I could produce paintings similar to those produced by 
Nellie the Elephant, I would sell them and live care-free on the profits.

> The effect that music has on you is due to the decisions the composer 
> took about which notes to write.  You can appreciate the music
> without knowing the structure of chords or compositional techniques, 
> but a even a little knowledge about how Rach 2 was composed would help 
> you to enjoy listening to it even more, and would certainly be 
> beneficial to your performance.  

Granted, a little knowledge may be beneficial. However, as I explained 
above, I think too much knowledge is a dangerous thing. Having said that, 
at the end of the day, music that creates an impact is (by definition) 
good music (at least subjectively). Whether you prefer the Spice Girls, 
Birtwhistle or Herb Alpert doesn't really matter as long as the music 
works for you.

> Hang on Cameron - arch anti-intellectual - aren't you studying for a degree
> at Oxford?  Then I suppose you take your subject at face value and never
> scratch below the surface but feel most comfortable with those superficial
> aspects which are apparent to the lowest common denominator

:) I actually finished my exams last week, so I am no longer an 
intellectual type! Seriously though, there is a huge difference between 
science and music. In fact, many of the underlying layers of 
biology/science are completely boring compared with the exterior. It is 
not necessary to understand the intricacies of the insect cuticle to 
appreciate the beauty of a butterfly. If you want to get a degree, then 
it might be a good idea to study the cuticular composition. If you want 
to be an amateur entomologist and simply collect butterflies for the 
their beauty, it is not necessary. 

Sorry about the length of this message. I do get a bit carried away 
sometimes...

Regards,

Cameron

-- 
  Cameron Mabon (International Idiot)	   cmabon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Piano, cornet and duck-call
  Fundamental Brass	       http://users.ox.ac.uk/~newc0349/fun
  City of Oxford Band     http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/~cmabon/COSB.html


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