Klarinet Archive - Posting 000682.txt from 2001/09

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Silence is Golden
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:16:33 -0400

<><> Tony Wakefield wrote:
Finally, I think we should look at how this 'jeering' at Cage has taken
a turn for the worse tho`. My wishes are for silliness which has crept
in to be moderated, but yet for us to nevertheless seriously think at
how we come to view =B4art=B4

Tony, since you quoted my message, I want to offer my apology. My
intention was to 'play _with_ you', definitely not to jibe at you.
That's the truth.

I have argued frequently against 'ad hominem' messages, and I am
regretful that I posted something which can be taken to be 'ad hominem'.
Once again, I do apologize.

Now that Gavin Rebetzge has explained to me exactly what Cage's 4'33"
(and the metronome concerto) are about, I want to say something further
on this topic:

I agree simultaneously with the two points of view, and I don't find
them to be contradictory.

First --- I have maintained repeatedly that rational thinking is based
on our sensory processes and would fail without them. I've pointed to
our language (I 'see' the answer to this problem', I 'feel' that you
are right/wrong, I 'hear' what you are saying', etc) as well as to
neurological evidence and to introspection of my own responses to music
and to the root meaning of "imagination" (which means the creation of
images). You have used the word "intellectual" rather than "rational",
but you are saying the same thing when you condemn
over-intellectualizing. I agree with you completely, and I'm happy to
hear someone who earns his living with music (as I do not and probably
could not) say the same thing in a different way.

Isn't "over-intellectualizing" another way of saying that the
_essential_ sensory ingredients of rational thought have been discarded,
and what remains is invalid?

Second --- I agree that 4'33" makes a valid statement, but it is not
music. As Tony Pay commented, 4'33" shows that content and context
cannot be separated, and therefore 4'33" says something useful about
human nature. Since (again as Tony Pay commented) music is ultimately
part of our humanity, 4'33" says something useful about music; but total
silence is not music, even though good music necessarily includes
silence as well as sound.

How many times have each of us heard a piece of music in one context,
then purchased a recording of it and listened to it in another context,
and finally wondered, "Why did I waste my money on this, it's not good
music at all"? In the same way, the difference between live
performance and recorded music is the loss of information when major
elements of 'context' are removed. (Occasionally removing information
can improve the product rather than damage it, of course --- such as
removing background noise.)

But to say it again, I agree that 4'33" is not music. 4"33" is useful
and productive.... as is a good lecture.... but it is not music.

Cheers and apologies for the unintended misunderstanding,
-Bill

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