James Tobin responded to me:

>>Nevetheless don't forget most people want to relax to enjoy listening,
>>period.  After a long day's hard work they are not looking to preserve
>>the art or to do more work getting out their encyclopedias to read and
>>study.
>
>It may well be that you are right about most people, though I hope not.
>A commercial classical music radio station in Milwaukee, WFMR, "your
>at-work station," is always touting its mission as to provide "relaxing"
>music.  This makes me sad, because I have always found good classical
>music to be exciting rather than relaxing, though--as in the case of
>other forms of excitement I will not name here--it helps to be relaxed
>first as a precondition.

By relaxation, a meant to imply a form of R&R.  Recreation and excitement
are partners.  As academic as anyone might want to be, please don't
forget that many or most masterpieces were written with the intent to
*entertain*, eg., all of W.A.M's operas.  Ditto F.J. Haydn's symphonies.
etc.  etc.  You remember of course, "too many notes, there are in fact
so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening".

Norman Schwartz

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