Fascinating thing. Music is so clearly something different
to different people. So much so that one has to ask, just what is it? I mean
some people listen to it and some people use it as a means of identification
and still others prefer it not to intrude to any degree.
So like music, so like art. Some people want art to decorate
the walls while others want to look at it and still others want to be
challenged by it.
Well let’s work off of the definition of music and art being
a form of communication, or not.
So we can have degrees of communication from challenging to
relating to don’t bother.
Up at the high end, we have great communicators such as
Beethoven who was sort of a magician at this thing. Probably countless numbers
of people sat down to a performance of Beethoven, possibly expecting to be
entertained and suddenly had a transformational experience.
They sneak up on you; such masters of their craft that what
they do is entertaining but they bend it to an unseen end; that of a strong
communication.
Perhaps, at the other end of the spectrum, the folks that
don’t look for communication are possibly not aware that any communication is
possible.
Life goes on as expected, they are getting on with it just
fine so what possibly could there be that needs communicated? As The Who said, this
ain’t no social dilemma, this is just another tricky day for you.
It does get a bit scary when you see such a powerful cottage
industry built up around non-communication. You get books that are absolutely
filled with detail and smart dialogue but virtually no plot.
You see movies that have spent a fortune on special effects
but have a plot that was apparently written by a committee where the members
were all in a different country and mailed in their parts.
People actually dumbing down their talent to cater to an
audience that is steadily being created; one that is not aware that any further
communication can exist or is possible.
