the only advantage of mechanically dividing the appreciation process into these hypothetical stages is that you can have a clear concept of the way of listening.
the easiest way to listen to music is to listen purely for the pleasure of sound, which is the aesthetic stage. Listening to music at this stage does not require any way of thinking. When we are doing other things, we turn on the radio and absently resist immersion in the stereo. At this time, the appeal of music alone can bring us into an unconscious but attractive state of mind.
you may be sitting in the room reading this book at the moment. Imagine that a sound is played on the piano, which is enough to change the atmosphere of the room immediately-proving that the acoustic component of music is a powerful and mysterious force, and anyone who laughs at or looks down upon it will look stupid.
Surprisingly, many self-qualified music lovers have developed a bad habit of listening to music at this stage. They go to the concert to forget themselves and take music as a comfort or relief. They entered an ideal world, in which people don't have to think about the reality in daily life. Of course, they didn't think about music. Music allows them to leave music and bring them to a fantasy realm. This fantasy is caused by music and is about music, but they don't listen to music very much.
Yes, the appeal of music sound is a powerful and primitive force, but you should not let it occupy an inappropriate position in your interest. The aesthetic stage plays a very important role in music, but this is not the whole problem.
there is no need to go too far about the aesthetic stage. The appeal of music is self-evident to every normal person. However, there is still a problem of being more sensitive to different sound materials used by different composers. Because not all composers use sound materials in the same way. Don't think that the value of music is equivalent to its appeal to beauty, and don't think that the best music is written by the greatest composer. If so, Ravel should be a greater composer than Beethoven. The problem is that the composer's way of using sound elements varies from person to person, and his way of using sound forms an integral part of his style, which must be considered when listening to music. Therefore, readers can see that even in this initial stage of listening to music, it is worth adopting a more conscious listening method.
the second stage of listening to music is what I call the expression stage. Here we will soon encounter controversial issues. Composers tend to avoid discussing the content of music. Didn't Stravinsky himself claim that his works are "objects" and "things" with their own lives, and have no other meaning except the existence of pure music? His uncompromising attitude may be based on the fact that so many people try to give different explanations to so many works. God knows how difficult it will be to explain the meaning of a musical work accurately, clearly and finally with your own explanation, so as to satisfy everyone. But it should not lead to the other extreme, that is, denying music the right to "express".
I personally think that all music has expressive power, some are stronger, some are weaker, and all the notes have a certain meaning behind them, which, after all, constitutes the content of the work. All the questions can be simply explained by the following question and answer: "Does music have meaning?" My answer is "yes". "Can you make this meaning clear in words?" My answer is "no". This is the crux.
those simple-minded people will never be satisfied with the answer to the second question. They always want music to have a meaning, and the more specific this meaning is, the more they like it. The more music that reminds them of a train, a storm, a funeral or any other familiar concept, the more expressive they feel. This popular concept with meaning to music-usually inspired and instigated by ordinary music commentators-should be corrected anytime and anywhere. Once a timid lady confessed to me that she was worried that her music appreciation was seriously flawed because she could not associate music with something definite. This, of course, leads the whole problem backwards.
however, the problem still exists. How far should those wise music lovers go in demanding that any work has a clear meaning? I said, at best, it's just a general concept. At different times, music expresses peaceful or overflowing emotions, regrets or victories, anger or joy. It expresses every emotion and many other emotions with countless subtle differences and changes, and it can even express the meaning of a suitable word that can't be found in any language. In this case, musicians like to say that music has only the meaning of pure music. They sometimes go further and say that all music has only the meaning of pure music. What they really mean is that there are no proper words to express the meaning of music, and even if they can, there is no need to look for them.
However, no matter what professional musicians say, most beginners still have to formulate clear words to explain their reactions to music. Therefore, he still always felt that it was easier to "understand" Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky than Beethoven. First of all, it is easier and much easier to formulate a clear meaning for a piece of music by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky than by Beethoven. Especially, as far as this Russian composer is concerned, whenever you go back to one of his pieces, it almost always tells you the same thing; It is often difficult for you to tell what Beethoven is talking about. Any musician will tell you that this is why Beethoven is a greater composer. Because music that tells you the same story every time will soon become boring music; Music that can have subtle meanings every time you listen to it has stronger vitality.
If possible, you might as well listen to the 48 fugue themes in Bach's Piano Music Collection with Equal Rhythm. Listen to one topic after another. Soon you will realize that every theme reflects a different mood. You will soon realize that the more beautiful the theme is, the more difficult it is to find words that can completely satisfy you. Yes, of course you know whether it is happy or sad. In other words, you can form an emotional frame around this theme in your mind. Now further study the theme of sadness and try to grasp its exact sad nature. Whether it is the sadness of pessimism or the sadness of resignation; Is it fatal sorrow or sad with a smile?
Let's assume that you are lucky now. You can describe the exact meaning of your chosen topic in many words to your satisfaction, but this does not guarantee that others will be satisfied, and others need not be satisfied. It is important that everyone can make himself feel the characteristics expressed by a theme or the whole music. If it is a masterpiece of art, you should expect it to mean exactly the same thing every time you listen to it again.
Of course, the theme or music doesn't have to express only one emotion. Take the first main theme of the Ninth Symphony as an example. Obviously, it is composed of different components and tells more than one thing. However, no matter who listens to it, there will be a feeling of strength immediately, a strong feeling. This feeling is not simply due to the powerful sound of playing. This is the power inherent in the theme itself. The extraordinary strength and vitality of this theme give the audience the impression that a powerful statement has taken place. But never try to boil it down to a "deadly hammer of life", and so on. This is where the trouble began. Musicians say in anger that music is nothing but the notes themselves, while non-professional musicians are too anxious for any explanation that can bring them closer to the meaning of this piece of music.
Readers may now know better that the music I said can really express a meaning, but it can't be explained in many words.
the third stage of listening to music is the stage of pure music. In addition to the pleasant sound and the feelings expressed, music does exist in the notes and the handling of notes. Most listeners are not fully aware of this third stage. The main purpose of this book is to make them further understand music at this level.
On the other hand, if there is a slight difference, professional musicians pay too much attention to notes. They often fall into the following mistakes: they are so absorbed in arpeggios and staccato that they forget the deeper aspects of the music they play. But from a layman's point of view, it is more important to improve your understanding of the notes being played than to overcome the bad habits in the pure music stage.
when a person listens to "notes" in the street with a little attention, he is likely to mention this melody. What he heard was a beautiful melody, or not. Generally speaking, he stopped thinking about it. Secondly, what he noticed was probably the rhythm, especially if it was exciting. Harmony and timbre are often taken for granted, if you think about them. As for whether this music has some definite form, he seems to have never considered it.
it is very important that all of us should feel music more in the pure music stage. After all, people use actual music materials. A wise listener must be prepared to strengthen his awareness of music material and its development. He must listen to melody, rhythm, harmony and timbre more consciously. More importantly, in order to follow the composer's ideas, we must understand some principles of musical forms. Listening to all these elements is to appreciate music at the stage of pure music.
let me repeat that we mechanically divide listening to music into three different stages in order to hear more clearly. In fact, we never listen to music at one stage alone. What we do is to connect the stages-listen in three ways at the same time. It doesn't need thinking, it will be done by intuition.
Compared with what we see sitting in the theater, we may be able to make clear the connection of this intuition. In the theater, you will notice the actors and actresses, costumes and props, acoustics and movements. All these will make people feel that the theater is a pleasant place and constitute the aesthetic stage of our reaction to the theater.
From your feelings about what happened on the stage, it can be concluded that in the stage of expression in the theater, you were moved to feel pity, excitement or joy. The total feelings generated by something exciting on the stage outside the lines are similar in nature to the expressions in music.
The plot and the development of the plot are equivalent to what we call the pure music stage. Playwrights use exactly the same methods in shaping and developing roles as composers in creating and developing a theme. You will become a wiser listener according to your knowledge of the two artists' methods of handling materials.
It is obvious that the person who often goes to the theater never realizes these elements separately, but he realizes all aspects at the same time. This principle is also suitable for listening to music. We listen at these three stages simultaneously and without thinking.
In a sense, the ideal listener can enter music and be detached from it at the same time. On the one hand, he comments on music, on the other hand, he appreciates music, hoping that music will go in one direction and watching it go in the other-just like a composer when he is composing music; Because in order to write their own music, composers must also enter and leave their own music, sometimes intoxicated by it, and sometimes calmly criticize it. We should have both subjective and objective attitudes when creating and enjoying music.
Therefore, readers should listen more actively. Whether you listen to Mozart or Duke ellington's works, only when you become a more conscious and conscious listener-not only when listening to something-can you deepen your understanding of music.
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