Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!bellcore!messy!mo
From: mo@messy.bellcore.com (Michael O'Dell)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: Re: Do you have to be a Musician to enjoy Music ?
Message-ID: <25101@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 9 Jul 90 13:11:26 GMT
References: <522@quad.sialis.mn.org> <4307@milton.u.washington.edu> <889@artsnet.UUCP> <4860@milton.u.washington.edu>
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: mo@messy.UUCP (Michael O'Dell)
Organization: Center for Chaotic Repeatabilty
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Mr. Weaks' comments very much mirror my own sentiments. Earlier this
year I heard (sat-through, endured) the revival performance of Philip
Glass' *Music in 12 Parts*.  Some of it was truly wonderful and worth
the trouble, some of it was the most aggressively boring stuff I've
ever been exposed to, and in all of it, being able to listen critically
and knowledgeably was quite important.  (turns out being able to
recognize shift-register sequences helped, too, but that's a different
comment.)

Now, not all music is *Music in 12 Parts* (Thank God!), so I think it
is a function of the "complexity" ("ambiguity", Bernstein might say)
within the music.

Simple tunes are composed and understood by almost everyone - people
humming and whistling - they connect very directly with the person
emotionally.  Even some other Glass pieces, particuarly some off 1000
Airplanes on the Roof, are much more accessible - meaning that I can
play them for people not as directly interested in what is happening
musically and they can still readily connect with the music, probably
because they are about as "tuney" as Glass writes.

SO, I think the more "direct" the music is, the less you need to
understand to feel really connected with what the composer was doing or
trying to say.  More subtle, complex prose, however, requires a more
sophisticated reader (not smarter - just more willing to grab hold with
both hands), and more complex music requires a more sophisticated
listener TO GET THE SAME LEVEL OF CONNECTION with the work.  Note that
I didn't say you can't connect perfrectly well and rewardingly without
that, but to get the same level of connection, more involvement by the
listener is required.

	-Mike