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Re: What do you think is necessary in order to have an excellentcomposition?
By the way, before I give my two cents to this question, Margaret Noble
and
her video partner in crime, Edyta Stepien, will be flying all the way from
Chicago to perform at the 2nd Annual Boise Experimental Music Festival
(http://www.boisemusicians.com/BEMF-2/). I am very excited to have her
there.
Now to the question and my answer, which no doubt will ruffle some
feathers
and may even agitate someone, as it is not one of those "status quo"
philosophies that makes everyon feel warm and fuzzy inside...but I have to
speak my mind. For at least 15 years I have considered myself an
"aesthetic
non-cognitivist," meaning I reject the possibility that there is such a
thing as an aesthetic fact, evaluative fact, factual value statement, or
whatever one would like to call these ontological chimeras I consider
them
meaningless. So when I see the question, "What do you think is necessary
in
order to have an excellent composition?", I consider that a question that
warrants not a statement of fact about the inherent properties of any
piece
of music or performer, but a statement that is a reflection of one's
emotive
response to a piece of music, performer, or the idea of composition, etc.
In
short, I believe that statements of the sort, "X is Excellent", "X is
good",
"X is bad", "X is better than Y", and so on , in light of music and art
aesthetics are devoid of literal, i.e., factual meaning, and must be
re-translated into "X makes me feel good", "X makes me feel bad", "X makes
me feel better than Y", and so on. These are entirely subjective
statements,
denoting private and introspective emotive states. So the answer to the
question is not an objective one, in my opinion here, and based on my
reflections on the topic over the years; rather the answer to the question
is either meaningless (if stated in the "X is Excellent because...", or
the
answers are as numerous as there are people on the planet (if stated as "X
makes me feel good", etc).
I would argue, however, there is some factor of delight and/or emotional
resonance among those who respond to questions of the above nature, even
if
those responses are translated into subjective/emotive statements, in the
same way the human beings feel better when they tell each other how they
feel, and they share common feelings. It generates a sense of unity and
harmony among individuals; though I would argue does not generate any
so-called objective truth or even the slightest and most remote
probability
about the inherent or actual properties of music or a performer, as I
believe statements of this nature have no cognitive import. We may as well
be asking questions like "What is the ultimate Good?", or "What is
Perfection?", which are "in principle" similar questions as "What
constitutes Excellence?", and which may have been interesting over two
thousands years ago when Plato was positing the existence of non-physical
and ideal "forms", as components of the real world, vs. the mere shadows
of
reality we experience via our senses....but today, there are many other
analytical philosophies invited to the party, which dispense with those
sort
of questions.
No disrespect to your original question and intent, Margaret...just my
honest and sincere response.
Cheers! :)
Kris