Re: Do We Perceive Beauty in an Unexpected Context

[Pawel Janowski <pjanowski@gmail.com>]

Maybe I am being obvious and not particularly insightful, but my feeling is that classical audiences are, on the whole, relatively small, especially ones that can tell 'great' from 'good' or 'average' (I often can't for instance). I would wager that even in his sold out concerts, quite a few people in the audience wouldn't be able to tell you why an outstanding performance would be different than a competent one (high-profile classical concerts are not always filled with audiences well-versed in classical music).

 

This has notthing to do with liking or hating music, or even appreciating music. I would assume that many passers-by would think "this guy is pretty good at the violin", but that wouldn't quite be enough to stop and take time to listen, especially if Bach is not a part of their musical diet (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that). Let's say (and that's not scientific in any way) that 70% of the 1,100 are active music listeners, 10% of them have some appreciation for classical music, and half of them can tell that they're hearing a great violinist playing a Bach piece. So we are taling about less than 40 people in a rush to get to work...

 

So I wouldn't say it's all about context, nor is it a sign of the downfall of western civilisation, more an issue of how likely you are to find your audience in a crowd of commuters.

 

Also, how many of the 1,100 were listening to their IPods? ;)

 

Ok, back to lurking.

On 20 February 2012 17:18, Clayton Gary Lehmann <hqr@cox.net> wrote:

"I caught his refrain as the signal changed,
He was playin' real good for free."