tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198360.post110855873577502859..comments2024-03-18T07:16:02.127+00:00Comments on An Idiot's Guide to Dreaming: Death to Emotional BulimicsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198360.post-1109452054156287822005-02-26T21:07:00.000+00:002005-02-26T21:07:00.000+00:00the point you bring up has been bothering me for a...the point you bring up has been bothering me for a while, and i think that it's one of the biggest problems in modern music, classical especially (maybe also in other genres, but i'm a classical musician watching the market diminish). music meant to be purely intellective in its appeal is one of the more ridiculous innovations of the past century. truly great music appeals to both reason and emotion and allows you to shape your own aesthetic experience. classical composers like beethoven or mozart would never be accused of being anything less than brilliant, and their music demonstrates the fact. despite that, their compositions appeal even to infants who have no way of grasping theoretical concepts, because beauty is beauty, and one of the most human things in the world is to react to it.<br /><br />this is not to say, of course, that all music must be melodic and beautiful; only that i think it's reasonable to expect that it elicit a sustained visceral response. i love atonal music, and some of my favorite pieces are quite unpleasant to hear, but they are still emotionally complex in addition to being theoretically complex. a piece that only provides intellectual stimulation is not a complete musical experience, it's just a theoretical exercise, although analysis is certainly fun when listening to a piece that's also emotionally involving.<br /><br />i would take issue with your use of ligeti as an example of emotional drought, though. his work is certainly a mixed bag, but i find much of it to be very involving and exciting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198360.post-1109284315155412372005-02-24T22:31:00.000+00:002005-02-24T22:31:00.000+00:00Its part of a warped aesthetic that I trace back t...Its part of a warped aesthetic that I trace back to cubism or thereabouts. It manifested first and foremost in the visual arts. Somehow, the theory behind an artistic movement or given work of art started to take on greater and greater preeminance and the art itself, that is the immediate aesthetic response became secondary. Galleries began to post explanatory statements about the art along with the art, to the point where the art became merely an example of the artistic theory being expounded. Now it is common to ask immediately what an artist meant by a work of art as if the art were merely an expository symbol.<br /><br />I say, screw that. I could care less about what an artist meant a piece to convey. Its my aesthetic experience and I'll have whatever one I damn well please. If I want to know the theory I'll read a book. <br /><br />I think the music intelligensia often tries to impose a similar ethic on music, though tempered by the fact that music is by its nature more emotionally evocative, so there's really only so far it can go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com