tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post3956264026887711785..comments2024-03-23T11:40:13.092-05:00Comments on Musical Assumptions: IDPTUTT: I Don't Pretend To Understand These ThingsElaine Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-25213557662975745782012-06-01T21:37:54.431-05:002012-06-01T21:37:54.431-05:00Only one score so far. Chen's I would have to...Only one score so far. Chen's I would have to buy, and it seems an extravagance, given what I can do(though I'm tempted). But there will be more, I'm sure. Interesting what you say about the map. John Metcalf said the same to me, and of course, it makes perfect sense!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-41927561424402754102012-06-01T09:15:22.390-05:002012-06-01T09:15:22.390-05:00I do appreciate the difference between liking some...I do appreciate the difference between liking something and the need to understand it, particularly when it comes to usic that is not written in the common practice period. How wonderful that you are starting to collect scores of pieces you like! It is important to remember that a score is a map, and the sounds that happen when people are playing are relative and depend on a large number of factors aside from who plays what where.<br /><br />A performance can be a dull recreation of a score, or to can be a living and vital experience. It all depends on who is playing, who is conducting, and under what circumstances it is being played. People who make recordings, for example, have every opportunity to adjust their "product" to fit the score, even if it means recording different parts in different rooms and collaging them together.Elaine Finehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10680113.post-79920186086117782052012-05-31T16:29:32.003-05:002012-05-31T16:29:32.003-05:00Not only is the Holland article thought-provoking,...Not only is the Holland article thought-provoking, but so is your response. For various reasons, not least of which was going off to Wales for a music festival and then trying, without technical knowledge, to write about it, I have been thinking quite a bit about how it is that I've come to be able to get my ears around more "new music" than I could have imagined even a year ago. I do think one can "learn to like" music, but the means are not straightforward, are they? Amusing to me, because it’s so basic, is that I keep coming back to listening as the primary way of learning, particularly listening in live performance. I agree with you that "our senses allow us to know," certainly (for me anyway, and I am one of those audience-lawyers) not by methodical analysis. But then . . . I read (well, read is a strong word for my capabilities in this regard—a little like Patty Duke at the water pump . . .) my first orchestral score not long ago, and, once I could follow it the least little bit, I found it a thrilling experience. Oh, so that's how this composer created these incredible sounds my senses enjoy so much! Now, having listened to Qigang Chen's Reflet and Iris D. in live performance and on CD, and then trying to write about what I heard, I really, really want to get hold of that score, too. How does he come up with those sounds? I want to know. So, it's a bit of this, a bit of that, but I do think it's true that, if my senses aren't engaged after a "good college try," I'm highly unlikely to go further with a piece.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com