Point of Conversation

Christopher Small says (yes, this is my latest obsession):

"We are moved by music because musicking creates the public image of our most inwardly desired relationships, not just showing them to us as they might be but actually bringing them into existence for the duration of the performance. ...it is not necessary to belong to a given social group in order to enjoy its musicking; were this not so, no traffic whatsoever could take place between cultures. What is necessary, however, is for the outside participant to feel some empathy with the people whose musicking it is, to feel some comprehension of and sympathy with their values, even if that sympathy is not fully conscious." [italics his]

I can't find the exact quote at the moment but basically at some point he says something to the effect of, we are attracted to the kinds of music, the types of musicking that express the values and relationships we wish to explore. So, my guess is that if you want to know why you're listening to the music you're listening to, you have to explore what values you hold and wish to hold.

Molly says: Thanks, Andrea. I really need to get a hold of these books. For those of us interested in digging deeper, what would you recommend starting with?

I love this conversation for so many reasons.

First, I can say from sitting at the piano that my understanding of myself has grown through the connection to studying certain pieces. A specific example would be Brahms Cap. in f#m. It taught me a lot about my relationship with myself. It provided the slap in the face I needed to understand an internal tug of war.

My great affinity for electronic music has been part of me since I was 12... It has always provided a stable, minimalistic backdrop to my complicated life. It was a retreat from the classical structure I use at the piano. It's the electronic genre that allows me to practice creative visualization for life. Self evolution.

Christopher Small has three books; in chronological order they are: Music, Education, Society; Music of the Common Tongue; and Musicking. I've been reading them in backwards order (I still have to go through M/E/S). They articulate a lot of things I've been thinking about, but didn't know how to articulate. There's a lot of controversial material in them and not everything he says is absolutely golden, but for the most part, it's really hit me where I live.

Here's an interview of him that Robert Christgau conducted:
http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/chrissmall.html

Music is everywhere and its an part of life which you can't separate from yourselves . Its with you from the day you take birth and you cry for the first time . There is a music in that too . its an important part of our society