Breaking the Sound Barrier : an argument for mainstream literary music

Rating:
Summary: Are our musical opinions as subjective as we think?
Review: The author deserves a lot of credit for taking up the argument of what's good and bad in music--a minefield nobody willingly enters. But John Winsor attempts to find objective reasons for what's good and what's not. He summons facts from musical and non-musical disciplines to make his case, and his stance will be difficult to attack. He does not hold up one kind of music as being "better" than another--he's not interested in that--but attempts to fashion tools for judgment. You will probably not agree with everything he concludes (I didn't), but I recommend the book for opening the discussion and provoking thought. This book, and its views, cannot be dismissed.

Rating:
Summary: An important book
Review: The inevitable intersection of taste and aesthetic judgment has, in recent years, led many to conclude that all music has equal value and that distinctions are the result of and rightly should be made mostly on the basis of personal preferences; that there are no absolute or quantifiable standards by which music should be judged. Those who use traditional measures to evaluate music are sometimes seen as culturally biased, elitist, and archaically Eurocentric. Indeed, popular music seems to have become the world standard and evidently is considered by many - even those in positions of media authority - as synonymous with contemporary music. That is why this book is such a courageous writing - it dares to re-assert the importance of standards and proposes a rather unconventional foundation: the relationship of musical elements to biological and psychological processes. The basic idea of that connection is not new. Nearly everyone likens the metric pulse of music to the beating human heart, and the formal arch of compositions in Sonata-Allegro or similar forms is sometimes seen as reflecting the envelope of rest/activity/rest transitions in human behavior. Nor is this kind of idea confined to the temporal arts. The links between deep human psychological archetypes and literary themes have long been recognized. But this book takes that basic idea and expands it to propose rather specific and refined associations that - whether one agrees or disagrees - are fascinating. Along with this thesis, the author also makes keen observations about the impact of various developments and movements in music history, sometimes taking positions that are likely to be unpopular in the current social environment of artistic egalitarianism. The book is honest, thoughtful, well written, original, and interesting. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Superb book about music aesthetics
Review: You will either love this book or hate it--there is no middle ground. The book describes a method, based on psychological principles, for judging the quality of music objectively. It lays out the reasons why some music compositions are better than others. It also spells out a plan for rejuvenating the world of classical "literary" music. The book articulates the things that I've learned about music, but I've been unable to express.

Rating:
Summary: Superb book about music aesthetics
Review: You will either love this book or hate it--there is no middle ground. The book describes a method, based on psychological principles, for judging the quality of music objectively. It lays out the reasons why some music compositions are better than others. It also spells out a plan for rejuvenating the world of classical "literary" music. The book articulates the things that I've learned about music, but I've been unable to express.