Back to this subject for a moment:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/04/18/science/20110419-
music-expression.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1
The page that comes up for me has a test of pieces performed by human
and machines, and the mixture of the two. We are asked to
pick the most expressive... probably corresponding to the human
playing the piece. It seemed pretty obvious to me which was the human
playing. There was expressiveness because there was a logic to the
variation in loudness, tempo, and all the subtleties within these
over time.
Expressiveness is only possible with cognizance.
In a funny convergence of events, I happen to have just read that
Bradley Manning was deeply intrigued in Kant's book, Critique of
Pure Reason,
(available to read here <http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4280/
pg4280.html >)
in which Kant in essence makes the argument that all of humans
failings are due to his inability to perceive the truth, to tell the
truth, and to act upon the truth.
It is a challenge to readers to change the way they experience in
order to convey truth to others and thereby improve man's condition.
it is no wonder that
Manning chose to expose raw data in order that the world might see
first hand that they were being fed massive quantities of
misinformation.. but that is another topic.
So, back to the article on expressive music: Here is what Kant has
to say about representation.
Understanding is, to speak generally, the faculty Of cognitions.
These consist in the determined relation of given representation to
an object. But an object is that, in the conception of which the
manifold in a given intuition is united. Now all union of
representations requires unity of consciousness in the synthesis of
them. Consequently, it is the unity of consciousness alone that
constitutes the possibility of representations relating to an
object, and therefore of their objective validity, and of their
becoming cognitions, and consequently, the possibility of the
existence of the understanding itself.
So this is another way of saying that it only in understanding that
representation can occur, real expression of an object, or in this
case, the musical object. Superficial application of variations is
not comprehension, is not understanding, and
cannot be expressive.
Anyway, I don't know how others did on the test. but I found all this
very informative.
best,
t
timothy.key.price
timothy.key.pr...@valley.net
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