Interesting points, Mathis.
But I don't understand your statement that music is no longer connected to identity. I think it still is, it's just that it's also become inextricably tied into fashion (at least on a popular level), so it becomes difficult to make distinctions. What about hip-hop and rap? In fact, it could be argued that music has done little else BUT exert a sort of identity-producing power -- so that the social groups of today are almost created by music, not the other way round. And I think it would be a mistake to suggest that this has nothing to do with the music itself. Anyway, maybe I just didn't get what you were driving at...
I also don't think "absolute" music is dying. I think rather, as I (sort of, almost) mentioned above, that listeners are simply becoming more accustomed to music that moves without the familiar forward motion of melody or harmonic progression. This obviously alters the time-image significantly, which also alters the mode of attention required to appreciate such music. What listeners are enjoying IS this shifted mode of attention. And I see no reason why this shouldn't be considered "socially relevant" – I mean, it could very easily be seen to reflect a social universe where time, space, value, and responsibility have all been turned upside-down by technology. The musical mono-narrative we are accustomed to is losing its relevance, perhaps, but not music itself. Whether this will ultimately kill concert music or not, I can't say. But it certainly is forcing all us concert music composers to re-think what we're doing in relation to the specific venue where we imagine our works existing. This is partly why I brought up the idea of "VSL Records", which fell on completely deaf ears (in another forum). It seems to me that there is most definitely an audience (or a potential audience) for virtual acoustic music. It is not the concert hall, for obvious reasons, and it shouldn't be reduced to simply backing up a storyline and a moving image. Rather, it ought to become a new venue for one-on-one musical contemplation. Cycling74 made their own label, so why not VSL? Anyway, nobody seems to get the relevance of that idea... bummer.
Your points, however, about Satie are very clear, and I agree in that context. In general, I think it's pretty useless to speculate on who the most important or influential composers will be since, with any luck, history will prove us all wrong!
J.
But I don't understand your statement that music is no longer connected to identity. I think it still is, it's just that it's also become inextricably tied into fashion (at least on a popular level), so it becomes difficult to make distinctions. What about hip-hop and rap? In fact, it could be argued that music has done little else BUT exert a sort of identity-producing power -- so that the social groups of today are almost created by music, not the other way round. And I think it would be a mistake to suggest that this has nothing to do with the music itself. Anyway, maybe I just didn't get what you were driving at...
I also don't think "absolute" music is dying. I think rather, as I (sort of, almost) mentioned above, that listeners are simply becoming more accustomed to music that moves without the familiar forward motion of melody or harmonic progression. This obviously alters the time-image significantly, which also alters the mode of attention required to appreciate such music. What listeners are enjoying IS this shifted mode of attention. And I see no reason why this shouldn't be considered "socially relevant" – I mean, it could very easily be seen to reflect a social universe where time, space, value, and responsibility have all been turned upside-down by technology. The musical mono-narrative we are accustomed to is losing its relevance, perhaps, but not music itself. Whether this will ultimately kill concert music or not, I can't say. But it certainly is forcing all us concert music composers to re-think what we're doing in relation to the specific venue where we imagine our works existing. This is partly why I brought up the idea of "VSL Records", which fell on completely deaf ears (in another forum). It seems to me that there is most definitely an audience (or a potential audience) for virtual acoustic music. It is not the concert hall, for obvious reasons, and it shouldn't be reduced to simply backing up a storyline and a moving image. Rather, it ought to become a new venue for one-on-one musical contemplation. Cycling74 made their own label, so why not VSL? Anyway, nobody seems to get the relevance of that idea... bummer.
Your points, however, about Satie are very clear, and I agree in that context. In general, I think it's pretty useless to speculate on who the most important or influential composers will be since, with any luck, history will prove us all wrong!
J.
