Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, May 05 2005
Eroticism In Classical Music? How Could There Not Be?
I felt a lot of agreement with this take on classical music, which I found via Arts & Letters Daily. It always amazes me when people talk about the evils of rhythms in pop music while they praise the patterns in classical music compositions as though that art form is incapable of evoking certain emotions. Music of any kind stretches our experience and mingles with the mind and body. Whether we hear music in a the car, in church or in a lounge we're affected by it. It enters our bodies through our ears and gets processed by human minds that are undeniably intertwined with human bodies. Music can make us angry, happy and a whole lot more. To deny the sexual side of music seems to me to deny part of the nature of the Creator himself. I'm not saying we need to see every piece of music as background for debauchery. But eroticism is not necessarily associated with debauchery. Eroticism is just a portion of humanity. We'd be better off to just allow that presence in the musical equation. Attempting to label one kind of music as sensual/bad and another kind as inspirational/good is kind of futile, and insisting on a strict framework for those associations for other people smacks of leaning toward being a control freak. We each process all art by launching a set of emotions based on our own unique experiences in life.
I guess the real problem comes in when music is used in a public space, since some folks might find this music or that music not to their taste. That's another problem altogether, and much more difficult to solve. Which may be why people want to label music in other ways. It's a quick way to avoid the responsibility of understanding the full range of emotions involved in one's listening choices.
One of composer Scott Joplin's ragtime songs was later worked into a theme for the film "The Sting". About 25 years ago I heard a gentle young man play his own version of this song on a steel drum in a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since then I've associated the song with the spiritual ambience of the church and with that young man's gentle smile and stories of his travels. There have been times when it lifted me out of a dark spot and the same is true for many other songs that someone else might find not to their liking. There are some songs other people think of as uplifting that only make me a nervous wreck. It's not so much of a stretch to read that some folks are touting the erotic side of classical music. And it won't be much of a surprise when others jump up and deny that side. Maybe that's good, as long as we allow one another the privilege of a personal experience with music, whatever that experience might be.
posted at: 11:56 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
I felt a lot of agreement with this take on classical music, which I found via Arts & Letters Daily. It always amazes me when people talk about the evils of rhythms in pop music while they praise the patterns in classical music compositions as though that art form is incapable of evoking certain emotions. Music of any kind stretches our experience and mingles with the mind and body. Whether we hear music in a the car, in church or in a lounge we're affected by it. It enters our bodies through our ears and gets processed by human minds that are undeniably intertwined with human bodies. Music can make us angry, happy and a whole lot more. To deny the sexual side of music seems to me to deny part of the nature of the Creator himself. I'm not saying we need to see every piece of music as background for debauchery. But eroticism is not necessarily associated with debauchery. Eroticism is just a portion of humanity. We'd be better off to just allow that presence in the musical equation. Attempting to label one kind of music as sensual/bad and another kind as inspirational/good is kind of futile, and insisting on a strict framework for those associations for other people smacks of leaning toward being a control freak. We each process all art by launching a set of emotions based on our own unique experiences in life.
I guess the real problem comes in when music is used in a public space, since some folks might find this music or that music not to their taste. That's another problem altogether, and much more difficult to solve. Which may be why people want to label music in other ways. It's a quick way to avoid the responsibility of understanding the full range of emotions involved in one's listening choices.
One of composer Scott Joplin's ragtime songs was later worked into a theme for the film "The Sting". About 25 years ago I heard a gentle young man play his own version of this song on a steel drum in a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since then I've associated the song with the spiritual ambience of the church and with that young man's gentle smile and stories of his travels. There have been times when it lifted me out of a dark spot and the same is true for many other songs that someone else might find not to their liking. There are some songs other people think of as uplifting that only make me a nervous wreck. It's not so much of a stretch to read that some folks are touting the erotic side of classical music. And it won't be much of a surprise when others jump up and deny that side. Maybe that's good, as long as we allow one another the privilege of a personal experience with music, whatever that experience might be.
posted at: 11:56 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
