The experience of sound, as a form of perceptual awareness, varies with the listener.
It is more than a matter of taste or learned behaviors. Like poetry, it is often considered to be entirely emotional in effect. This is erroneous in both cases; subjective emotions are not the sole measures of aesthetic appeal any more than the sense of moral reason can be the entire basis of judgement in regard to artistic merit, whether in terms of musical composition or poetic expression.
Generic musical forms dominate the attention of the listener. But the natural capacity of listening--and hearing-- is intrinsic to human awareness, and is capable and worthy of much more than that.
It is more than a matter of taste or learned behaviors. Like poetry, it is often considered to be entirely emotional in effect. This is erroneous in both cases; subjective emotions are not the sole measures of aesthetic appeal any more than the sense of moral reason can be the entire basis of judgement in regard to artistic merit, whether in terms of musical composition or poetic expression.
Generic musical forms dominate the attention of the listener. But the natural capacity of listening--and hearing-- is intrinsic to human awareness, and is capable and worthy of much more than that.
