James Tobin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Steve Schwartz:
>
>>[I] really don't know what emotion the Brahms first symphony expresses ...
>
>I think that if we went at it collectively we could come up with a number
>of descriptive terms to interpret what is expressed in this work that
>would make a lot of sense and explain plausibly some features of the work,
>that might be puzzling in the absence of any reference to human feelings.
>I would suggest that we could at the same time discuss Brahms D minor
>Piano Concerto, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's Fourth and
>Fifth Symphonies in analogous terms with some degree of success.

And hopefully we will not do so.  I also don't know what emotion Brahms
1st expresses exactly (even though it taps into my emotional states quite
intensely when I listen to it), one thing I know for sure is I don't want
to hear about it.  It could be that I am peculiar, but few things are more
annoying to me than verbal "descriptions" of the supposed emotional message
inherent in a piece of music.  All that "fate knocking at the door" stuff
never fails to make my blood boil.

The closest analogy I can come up with to explain how I feel about
music-to-English translators is this:  have you ever sat in a movie theater
in front of someone who can't keep him/herself from making loud comments
on the goings-on on screen? I don't know about you, but the emotion this
usually expresses to me is a strong urge to turn around and slap the
person's head off...  (well, I guess I am peculiar:)

Ulvi
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