Jim Tobin brings up the idea of musical meaning being essentially a matter
of understanding conventions. This is certainly my view, and I would add
that these conventions do not necessarily (although they might) cross
cultures or times. He then goes on:
>Deryck Cooke (The Language of Music) did as well as anyone with this and
>I don't know if he has received a reading as sympathetic as he perhaps
>deserves for his efforts.
This is a brilliant book. I read a library copy, which I was not allowed
to borrow. I kept coming back day after day. I've been trying to find a
copy for myself for years. Cooke certainly knew a lot of music in great
detail. I might nit-pick here and there, but overall if anyone has
understood the expressive gestures of most of Western music, it's certainly
Cooke.
Steve Schwartz