Bill Pirkle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>By that thinking craft would tend to appeal to our rational thinking while
>art would tend to appeal to our emotional thinking.

It seems to me you are using these terms (art and craft) as surrogates
for your likes and dislikes in music (or art in general), and as such
they are no less subjective as labels than your preferences.  I find it
exceedingly unlikely that any composer wrote music which he/she did not
intend to be emotionally expressive; if they wanted to produce craft, they
would have chosen a different (and easier) profession.  Whether we find
their music emotionally expressive or not is of course entirely subjective.
I find Bach's music the most emotionally expressive of all, and I find
those works which many regard as dry and academic (like the Art of Fugue
and the WTC) are even more potent in expression than his more overtly
dramatic output (like the St.  Matthew Passion).  On the other hand, I
don't get emotionally affected by much of Wagner or Tchaikovsky; but I
wouldn't interpret my lack of response to their music as proof that they
were producing craft not art (although their mastery of the craft of
composition is apparent to me and not in doubt).  It's simply my problem
that I don't parse their language of emotional expression.

Ulvi
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