On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:40:02 -0500, nemesis wrote:

> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:06:36 -0500, nemesis wrote:
>> > no, no, no.  Try to love the music for the music itself.  Programme
>> > music is so démodé...
>>
>> I have to disagree - you can love music for any number of reasons.
> 
> Yes, it's just that few people really do love music for the music
> itself.  

For me it depends on the piece.  Some pieces, like Bach's Toccata & Fugue 
are fantastic pieces in their own right.  As you say, the mathematical 
constructs are truly incredible.

But at the same time, I'd listen to Moscow Nights because it's a song we 
played on the aforementioned concert tour, and the audiences loved it.  I 
don't have a copy of that one (other than our orchestral recording from 
the tour), but I can still hear it in my head and remember things like 
getting lost at the Hermitage museum in Leningrad.

> Many associate certain music to special occasions in their
> lives and that's why they enjoy it foremost.  Many just enjoy music as a
> way to get together with other people.  Few have pleasure with just
> paying attention to it and marvel at the heartpounding transformations
> and transfigurations...

Well, certainly one of the most breathtaking pieces of music ever written 
is Barber's Adagio for Strings; most people associate it with the film 
_Platoon_, but I think even most people who listen to it who are familiar 
with the film can get behind the sheer intensity of the work.  That's 
another one we played in the USSR, and I can tell you from personal 
experience that there is *nothing* like playing that piece - particularly 
in the rain at Gorky Park.  While I'm not (as you know from previous 
discussions) a particularly religious person, that experience alone was 
one of the most moving and breathtaking performances I've ever taken part 
in.  It was truly as if the sky opened up and wept.

It's a pity the rain was significant enough that only 3 or 4 remained in 
the audience by the time we finished playing it (after 3 starts that had 
to be aborted because of the rain - string instruments are assembled 
using water-soluble glue, and on the final attempt we eventually had to 
inch the string sections back under the bandshell).

> the most abstract art is also the least really appreciated one...

I don't think that it's unappreciated or even least appreciated; it's 
just appreciated in more ways than a physical or visual art form.  An 
aural medium bypasses the optic nerve and engages the imagination, if the 
audio is compelling enough.

Jim

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