Happy Birthday! NewMusicBox is always an interesting read primarily due to the many different authors ie composers involved… Here are just a few examples worth a read (it seems the site doesnt have an easily accessible archive – most of these I found via the search function)
Amanda MacBlane ruminates on the Future of Music & Technology and comes up with some universal truths
Composing for the Theremin: Some Practical Issues
Tan Dun: Tradition/Invention re Music for Film
How do Music & Nature connect in your work?
Picture Perfect: A HyperHistory of Film Music in the United States
Maximize Information Flow: How to Make Successful Live Electronic Music
View from the East: Erik Satie—A Model for Alternative Thinking
The Impossible Case of Seeing Music – Might an appreciation for contemporary art translate to an appreciation for contemporary art music?
Now this last article covers similar fertile ground as a book recently released by David Stubbs called Fear of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don’t Get Stockhausen. Quoting from a BBC article on the book: “..the Tate Modern is one of the most popular galleries in Europe – but an audience presented with the equivalent in music tends “to screech”.
Intriguing! I think my only theory on the subject is one of context. One place that abstract or challenging music finds a welcome home is in cinema & that is all about context; while listening to Penderecki at full level at home relaxing on a sunny afternoon is fairly unlikely, put The Shining on & the same music makes perfect sense… But the context is virtual, not real. Art galleries provide a context to appreciate art & so when you walk through the door you are making a similar commitment to appreciate art as you are when you go to a movie. The issue then is whether the primary purpose of challenging music is for it to be ‘enjoyed’ in its own right, and that is down to the individual listener as to why they listen to music. For many people it is a means of active relaxation, which for me it is hard to imagine Penderecki in that context. But now I feel like watching The Shining again! Hmmmmmmm…..
Penderecki on a sunny afternoon?
why not? it really depends on how i’m feeling on that sunny afternoon rather than the sun’s “jovial disposition.”
like you said, context, albeit of an emotional/psychological kind
I may be biased, but I think part of the reason is that music is a hugely more powerful medium than painting. I’ve never had a painting, no matter how beautiful, leave me a quivering mess of nerves, make me physically tremble or bring me to tears.
So perhaps the public is more comfortable accepting a challenge if it’s not going to mess with their emotional state as deeply. Unless they’ve already committed to that state, as in a horror movie.
But I haven’t read the book yet, I’m waiting for it. Not sure I’m going to like it.
i have had painting and sculpture move me a lot..
Tim i dont think that your idea of “context” makes sense in describing when one “gets” contemporary western art music , as once it is paired with a visual it is no longer a piece of music. Its like saying painting doesn’t make sense until it’s accompanied by cooking.
the context is different, granted, but music with image is not the same as music without..
also why does something artistic have to have a primary purpose? and why should tht be defined by the listener? surely it’s defined by the composer..
thredony to the victims of hiroshima
handels water music
requiems
gorecki
etc
etc
or the patron
and where is it written that painting is to be “enjoyed”?
and IMHO context does not necessitate commitment..
though it often tries to tell you it does.
L
ps looks like an interesting book
I think my use of the term context is about how the audience appreciates a work – I totally agree music with image is a different thing than music, but it illustrates how ‘difficult’ music that some might reject is accepted via how it is presented to them.
Another aspect has to be the time factor of perception – I can walk into an art gallery & in a single glance have a reaction & start to form an opinion as to whether the artwork is of interest to me, whereas music can only be heard in real time; in effect it requires that I cease whatever else I was thinking/doing & relinquish control to the real time flow of the music. How long is a glimpse of music? Obviously subtleties & deeper meanings in all artforms take time, but the initial response is what allows (or not) those deepeer meanings to be found.
Its perceptually odd – I certainly find it easier to look at & disregard a visual artwork or image that I don’t like, whereas I am more afronted by music that I dont like….. but that response is different for every member of the audience…
As for the artist/audience relationship… methink that is for another post
If a tree falls in a forest…