[Julietta Anne Rabens]

One more for now: I also always struggled with Karlheinz Stockhausen, although his lectures on music inspired me and challenged my thinking like few have. He conceived the continuity from tone to form. The natural waves pulses in a tone when slowed down become rhythm, which when expanded is form. I doubt I could have ever conceived of that on my own. He also noted that tonal music with regular periodicity (regular, periodic phrase lengths) like a Beethoven or Mozart symphony when sped up to a single second, produce a vowel sound. Whereas a piece that is dissonant with irregular phrasing produces a consonant when sped up. Understanding such fundamental relationships in the physics of sound opens up so many doors to comprehesion.

I know Stockhausen is brilliantly intelligent. I also know his music is aesthetically challenging to a point that bewilders me. There are examples I “dislike”. It is abrasive, irregular, erratic. Which do you think is more likely that I am so intelligent as to be able to see through him as an expressive idiot? Or is his work something I am not fully comprehending? Is it my lack or his? As far as society goes, he has achieved a much higher level of respect professionally than I ever will. Is that relevant? Is this all completely subjective? Or is there a way to investigate and form some type of estimation on his work that falls outside my opinion of it?

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

Also, I have a mixed response to Asian classical music. There is some I take to immediately and some that really challenges my ears. With that I have been making a conscious effort to comprehend some of the more challenging examples like certain examples of Korean music. Japanese shakuhachi and koto music I take to instantly. Asian classical can serve as a primary example of what I am talking about here because it is quite challenging to many Western ears, and yet it is rather difficult to dispute the sophistication and meaning in this music.

I will also add that I have sometimes played a game with myself pretending I have never heard a dominant seventh chord resolving to a triad and listen to the music described in the opening post with “fresh ears”. I notice the absolute joy of the performers on PBS playing the Strauss waltzes with the helium balloons ascending at the end of the program and it makes me feel really good just seeing the joy it brings. I also pay attention to the phrasing and can appreciate the skill and nuance that some performers execute.

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

Kathleen Erate wrote: It is a fact that there is protest music, and music that make statements. However, what Ms Meijer hopes to prove by her music is beyond me.

I have not heard this piece and so cannot comment on specifics. From what you have described of the piece, I would surmise that Ms Meijer is attempting to recreate a human experience that is foreign to many people who have not been faced with those sorts of tragedies. In the same way you would naturally reject the pain of such an experience, you have perhaps rejected this representation of that experience. This specific example may not serve as a model – I cannot judge that, but if the arts are ever understood to tell the truth about the human experience and to recreate a sense of empathy with an experience unlike our own, then the arts should challenge us. The assumptions that music is to be beautiful and soothing in all cases is culturally confined. Such a view is legitimate, but incomplete. Music has as many angles from which it can be viewed as a mountain has. It is all things that the human experience is: it is an abstract representation of the whole of it.

Certainly it is a rare person who can appreciate all music, but is there value in at least remaining curious as to why some people, even intelligent ones, find meaning and relevance in something we are most comfortable rejecting?

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

While finishing up my doctorate in music I bought
my LH 85CG. Months prior to this my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and was forced into early retirement. She was still making payments on a Yamaha upright piano. She had to reduce her monthly expenses, so I took over the piano payments assuming it cancelled out the option of buying a harp. I had been practicing on the university’s instrument. It worked out for the best.

I worked at least
half-time throughout my graduate studies, attended a land-grant
university with minimal tuition, and typically took out student loans to only
cover the tuition during the years I didn’t have an assistanceship. Towards the end of my graduate training, I took out
larger loan amounts offered while continuing to work the same hours. I made this choice for two years and maxed out one credit card which I paid off over time to buy my pedal harp. I knew it was “now or never” because my financial future was uncertain after graduate school. It was a tremendous risk for me financially, but I had made a decision to place my professional efforts as composer and performer in the area of harp, so the risk was necessary to achieve that goal. It hasn’t been easy since, but I am grateful I took the risk, because the harp speaks to me on the deepest level.

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

The two things i typically see in these scams are:

1. The proposed student will be in your country for a limited period of time, and requests daily lessons.

2. They want to know the entire fee so they can pay it upfront.

One way such a scam plays out (i’ve heard in non-music related scams) is that they overpay with a bad check and request you mail them the difference before their check fails to clear. It’s usually something like that.

There was one email requesting yoga lessons from me, and i was tempted to oblige by sending them home in pretzle fashion. [insert evil laughter]

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

I agree with Elizabeth that it is important to hear great performances of a variety of works as well as hearing multiple performances of a particular work.

Understanding the underlying structure in the music, studying form and analysis, also develops a deeper sense of the music and can influence the way it is performed. In addition to this there is a psychological aspect to understanding music and how it relates to emotion, philosophy, and meaning. This can be developed through a study of music history which includes a sense of performance practice issues, cultural assumptions about the role of music and what it communicates, and an understanding of the composer’s personal life and intent in the work. Also, challenging the student to connect with the music and find personal relevance and ownership in relationship to each piece including a diverse range of styles can add to a sense of maturity.

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