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Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:39:10 PST |
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Steve Schwartz wrote:
>I'm not surprised, particularly, that most difficult new music makes
>so little sense on first hearing. But why should it make sense at
>first hearing? Why shouldn't a composer expect the audience to work?
This issue of "expectations" always interests me. I would think that
it's a bad idea for composers to have any particular expectations of the
audience, consumer, etc. The composer has no control over the response to
his/her music, so I see nothing to be gained by assigning expectations.
Actually, it just doesn't sound like a mentally healthy way to think.
I know that Steve feels that the audience should exercise its mind and
would want to do so; that's noble thinking. But, I tend to think that most
people want music for entertainment purposes - working on a composition is
one of the last things they would engage in. I don't think this situation
will change.
What do composers on the list think concerning "expectations."? If you
do have expectations, do they tend to be met?
Don Satz
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