A quote from Harold Best
2007-10-24I haven’t finished the article, but I’m sympathetic to this idea:
And whether we like it or not, all music–good, bad, old, new, simple, complex, loud, soft–is contextually friendly, seemingly bent on soaking up whatever is around it, easily shifting from foreground to background. It takes a special effort of the aesthetic will to keep it in the foreground–to encounter it on its own terms and for its inherent worth–even when we consciously devote ourselves to this task. In this respect and with the possible exception of the visual arts, music is unlike any other form of propositional communication. Everyone except the most stubbornly absolutist thinkers understands this. And if this present culture survives long enough for its history to repeat itself, the musics created for today’s Stratford Malls may well make their way into tomorrow’s quieted and tuxedoed concert halls, just as the Tafelmusik of the past has. Musicologists will pore over their various minutiae, showing how this newly absolutized material should be studied and canonized. Mannerisms and protocols will gradually make their way into performance practices; coughing will be frowned on during performances and, by all means, there will be no waterfalls and the sounds of little children will be unwelcome. Meanwhile, some other kind of new music will be piped into tomorrow’s Stratfords and tomorrow’s music critics may well continue the lament over the ongoing denigration of the art form.
Plus he then goes on to discuss “high” culture vs. “low” culture…or rather how there isn’t really a “versus” at all. Hopefully this will be some solid food for thought.