music?

[Tony Hardie-Bick]

Matt Picone wrote:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snt35m2fzBw

Hilarious. It may be music. It *is* fugal (the voices stuff). Dunno if I like 
Gould's playing of Webern. His style is abrupt and acts as counterpoint to the 
subtle harmonies of Bach, whereas abstract piano music like this is easier to 
connect with when played legato, with smoothness, and forgiveness for a piece 
that is looking for sympathetic ears. Funny to hear all this from Gould, but you 
can't be that much of a genius without giving yourself brain space for broad 
leaps now and then. It's possible a minority of Webern afficionado's might find 
his interpretation brilliant, but I doubt it. It sucks, IMHO! I'm sure this 
piece could be played in a way that is transcendent. The war-era composers, from 
Webern through Stockhausen/Boulez/Xenakis, all derived their aesthetics from an 
association between wild random explosions and terrifying drama. That's why 
their music is generally so inaccessible. What's interesting is the exceptions, 
when even an alien sound vocabulary crosses time and culture and inspires. That 
stuff should be sent out on space probes.

Like this :)

http://tinyurl.com/4mecwh

Tony (HB)