Stirling Newberry wrote a long and thoughtful response to my response to
Len Fehskens.  In my post I said, a little bit polemic:

Ah, I think the final circle of hell for every music lover is to become an
expert.  I like what I like and I don't care if an "expert" (and all the
experts are so highly subjective) dooms the artists who make an impact on
me.

Stirling now wrote:

>There are many who seem to worry that if their tastes become refined,
>they will lose the ability to be moved by that which is not refined.  This
>impression is reinforced by snobs of all varieties, who need a reason to
>justify their having become snobs.

Well, if you call me a snob that's fine with me.  I enjoy forests,
children's laughter, Schubert and a good Italian meal.  I think that really
makes me a snob.

>I find that, indeed, there are some works that delight me less than at
>first.  On the other hand, there is all the greater joy when I find that
>some youthful attachment proves to have more and deeper resources than I
>could have imagined on first hearing.

I am very satisfied with this.  But there is nothing but the joy of first
discovery.  I am a teacher and always delighted about the first reactions
of pupils to poems I know for so long now.  They make me forget being the
expert for a while.

All I wanted to say is that the danger of getting too much accustomed
to music is that you lose the ability to just being impressed or angered
or delighted.  Instead of listening and feeling you think: Urgh, the
orchestra could be better, the singer sounds coars and so on.  It's like
having sex and thinking about technique all the time...

>While one can't fault anyone for deciding not to chase sophistication in
>every field - I am sure my wine cellar would gather guffaws from the true
>sophisticates - it should never be out of fear that one will loose out.  On
>the contrary, one will only gain.

The numbers of boring people on some lists who only delight in bashing
each other for the singers, conductors etc they like or not like proves
you wrong.  This experts don't care about the music anymore.  They want
to be right and think they are right because they know so much.

Robert Peters
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