Jessica Duchen's Classical Music & Ballet Blog. Novelist/journalist JD writes for The Independent, London
Monday, November 02, 2009
November...
November edition of Standpoint includes my article on No Music Day and how our minds affect our listening; and a stunning essay by James Macmillan on music and modernity. http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/2384
4 comments:
"It's a concern, because if we hear music all the time, like it or not, we become inured to it — and chances are we will stop listening."
I don't buy that argument.
Parallelliott, would you care to elaborate on why?
I don’t think that hearing music all the time tends to lead to us not listening to it. Similar arguments are made about overexposure within new downloading cultures and new technological means of consuming music. Namely, the availability of a seemingly infinite quantity of music leads listeners to not appreciate music as much or to lose the capacity to think critically about it. When I consume ten new albums a day, the argument goes, something is lost. And the solution is to consume less so that my appreciation of the little that I do consume grows. I don’t want to make some romantic or metaphysical argument, stating that there is no such thing as a problem with the overconsumption of music because music connects to some transcendental human essence, and so never loses its power. But, personally, I don’t think that listening to music all the time will lead to my lack of interest in it, appreciation for it, or ability to think critically about it. While, surely, there’s a possibility that some will stop listening from overlistening, but for me there’s a pretty slim chance of that. I think it’s a cliché to claim that “too much of x will lead to desiring/consuming no x.” I want more, not less.
Great, parallelliot - thank you!
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