Dave Pitzer wrote concerning Beethoven:

>But his piano concertos, piano sonatas, symphonies, etc. were certainly
>not programmatic and it is silly (in my opinion) to play the game of
>discerning what scene or emotion he was trying to express in these
>compositions.
>
>This is an age-old pastime.  And it's not even interesting.  Music does
>not have to "mena" anything.  It's somewhat childish and certainly
>"wrong" to try to place a picture or scene with non-program music.

If I recall correctly, a particular list member simply asked what emotions
other list members felt when listening to the 2nd movement of the Emperor
Concerto.  There's nothing wrong with that; most people feel *something*
when they listen to a piece of music, although the feeling could just be
boredom.  It's a different matter to be asked what emotions and/or images
was Beethoven trying to convey with a particular piece of music.  Anyways,
I see nothing wrong with a listener possessing a picture or image when
listening to non-progam music.  Whatever a listener feels or doesn't
feel when listening to music is personal and *never* wrong.  Taking it
a step further, I think it's great when I get various feelings/images
when listening to non-program music; it makes the whole experience
more enjoyable and of greater impact.  In fact, that's probably the
main reason humans love music - the feelings they get from it.

Don Satz
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