Julia Werthimer wrote:

>>I've always felt that sticking to one type or style or period of music
>>very easily becomes a bore.  The moment I feel I understand a composer
>>is the moment that composer tends to lose all interest for me.
>
>Can that really be true? Are there no works that you feel you understand
>thoroughly but love so much that you enjoy listening to them for pleasure?

No, but fortunately I don't understand very much.

>Forgive me for saying so, but you sound as though you regard music as a
>conundrum to be solved rather than an art form to be enjoyed.  Or is it
>just that once you understand a piece you need to give it a rest for a
>while? I would be really interested to know.

I don't see why an intellectual pleasure is any less a pleasure than a
sensual one.  Once I say that, however, I must add that there are many
works that give me sensual pleasure and are mysterious to me for that very
reason - that there's no intellectual hook or hold by which I can prise the
work open.

Steve Schwartz