Klarinet Archive - Posting 000730.txt from 2004/10

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Appealing to the superficial
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 07:01:52 -0400

Adam Michlin wrote:

> It seems to boil down to Milton Babbitt's famous question "Who cares
> if [they] listen?".

Babbitt never wrote that; an editor put it as the title of Babbitt's
article without consulting him (and, apparently, much to Babbitt's
distress).

> My answer to him and you:
>
> I care.

Why? It is not your job to determine how other people live their lives.

What matters to me is that *I* get to listen. Of course, it's nice if
there are lots of other people in the audience because that usually
creates a better atmosphere, and the more listeners there are the
greater the opportunity to hear the music. But some of my most profound
musical experiences have been when I was one of a handful of people in
the audience. Come to that, some of my most profound musical
experiences have been when I was the *sole* listener, perhaps to a
friend playing, perhaps without anyone playing but just listening to the
sounds around me.

In my experience, people don't respond well to someone who *wants* them
to listen to some particular music. The best responses seem to come
either when the person presenting the music is a trusted friend, or when
that person puts themselves and their opinions completely out of the
picture and simply lets the other person listen on their own terms.

-- Joe

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