Ed Zubrow wrote:

>On our wonderful local radio show the Connection with Christopher Lydon,
>pianist and NEC professor Stephen Drury is discussing contemporary
>classical music.  He is urging listeners to approach modern music in a new
>and different way in order to begin to appreciate it on its own terms.
>
>Do not think of music as telling a story.  Do not think of it as a dance.
>Think of the sounds as an experience to be absorbed.

Great advice!  (By the way, you don't have to confine it to modern music.)
The problem is, it seems that so few people can follow it.  I think this
accounts for the lack of popularity of this kind of music--most people
(even many CM fans) need to associate the sounds with something else
(emotions, ideas, mental images, or whatever) in order to get into a
comfortable relationship with it.  But so much contemporary music is
specifically designed to frustrate all such attempts.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]