Dave Lampson- our esteemed moderator who richly deserves the many recent
notes of appreciation for moderating this list (to which the writer adds
his own [now is it safe for me to go on the attack?])- writes:

>There is no objective truth about the quality of music because it's all
>based on subjective perception.

I don't believe that, and I think if I did, I would be so attracted to
this genre we call CM and which some blue ribbon panel called one of the
200 great inventions of mankind.  I'm curious what others on this list
think.

Take the proverbial visitor- Mr. K- from the planet Klatu in a galaxy
far far away.  He- "he" by default, not biological role- might be puzzled
by Earthling music.  Suppose he tried comparing the music central to this
list with that of, oh Madonna or the latest rap star, or even Brian Wilson.
Irrespective of Mr. K's hearing and audial processing, I think he would
recognize a certain banality in the rap genre as compared with, say, the
music of Bach, Lizst, or Simpson.  And, given the intellectual
sophistication that Mr. K must have in order to have traversed galaxies,
I think he would be more intrigued with Bach/Simpson than Biggy Smalls (a
rap wunderkind of yesteryear).  I might wistfully note that using that
standard, he will also pass on some treasures ...  The Edelweis Song,
Meditations from Thais, but I digress.

At least if Mr K's audible range approximates our own- not too bad an
assumption, by the way- then he might be interested in how the sounds of
various musics are produced.  And he's going to recognize that playing the
piano well or the violin at all demand much more control of nuance than
does the electrically amplified guitar.  He may even sympathize with Winton
Marsalis, who after one concert reportedly declaimed, "I'm gonna give up
this classical ****.  When you make a mistake in jazz, nobody knows, when
you make one in classical everyone knows." As an evolutionarily advanced
creature, Mr K has an appreciation of nuance (OK, I'm making some
assumptions here, but he didn't traverse galaxies by being careless).  So,
while the emotional content of Earthling music may entirely escape him, Mr
K will appreciate the greater subtlety necessary to produce CM as compared
to Biggy's music.  He will recognize it as a greater achievement.

As Mr K starts to explore Earthling culture more, he studies music theory.
He develops an appreciation of harmony, of counterpoint, of orchestration.
He compares the intellectual effort involved with Walter Piston's
symphonies with Michael Jackson's "Thiller".  He's a little surprised that
they were written by the same species, and that [largely distinct] groups
of individuals from the same species applaud both.  But he realizes that
WP's music requires much more of an intellectual effort to create than did
MJ's and, coming from a race that prevailed over numerous complex
intellectual challenges, he appreciates WP's music more.  Moreover, I
suspect he draws the same conclusion comparing Piston's symphonies with
music written for the oud.

Finally, in an attempt to understand the psychology of Earthlings,
he tries to delve into the emotional content of various types of music
(Klatuans have emotions too, you know).  There things get murky, but
he does recognize a greater range of emotional expression inherent in
Beethoven or Richard Strauss oeuvre than Biggy's, um, music.  And he
understands that a wide range of emotional expressions are indicative
more complex minds ...  minds with which he might care to have an exchange.
Again, he puzzles over the fact that Beethoven and Biggy- and their
respective fans- are from the same planet, let alone species.

These are merely starting points for a discussion to address Dave's claim.
I suspect others can- and have- explored these issues with more eloquence
and depth (can anyone suggest article length publications for the general
audience?).  And I admit the standards I cite here might backfire, as I
think they might lead Mr K to conclude that Wuorinen's music is greater
than that of Mozart.  Depending on your criteria, Wuorinen's music may be,
although I suspect the season ticket owners of the Vienna State Orchestra
would collectively disagree.  Hang around a couple of hundred years (an
keep the list going), Dave, and when I deliver the acceptance speech as the
first laureate of the Nobel Prize for Music, I will resolve these issues
too.

Larry