Dead Composers, Living Audiences: The Situation of Classical Musi ...

This outcome will be shown to be intimately linked to ethical and aesthetic issues, which will be developed by means of an extended consideration of the conflict between the rational and the a-rational as it plays itself out in contrasts between music, art, and literature, as well as science and philosophy.

So, the effort in the first three chapters is to show problems commonly dealt with in the teaching studio. Teachers of the Western music tradition have developed tried and true techniques for dealing with these problems as they occur in teaching, generally by helping students toward an understanding of historical, musical, technical, and stylistic problems, among a host of others. These “common” problems of teaching are, however, symptomatic of very deep, complicated, and endemic philosophical issues that have, so far, been insufficiently discussed in a form that might be useful to teachers, performers, and lovers of the music of the Western classical tradition.

It is important, therefore, not to be mistaken about the character of discussions to follow. The pedagogical problems broached in the first three chapters are presented as I believe they ought to be: as typical problems that arise in the studio. But the purpose there is to show how they, indeed, are typical. What is not discussed to any depth in pedagogical books is what lies behind or beneath these commonly experienced problems. The complex of concerns lying behind these pedagogical issues is the material with which we deal in the chapters constituting parts II, III, and IV. That is the reason for the change in voice and tone that characterizes these later chapters of the book. They deal with philosophical problems (to which philosophy itself has, sometimes to the detriment of music and the arts, contributed). But philosophical or not, they are problems of which we can no longer remain ignorant. To do so would contribute to the increasingly rapid deterioration of our culture and of our world. If anyone has read even this far, I believe such ignorance can no longer be called naïve, but irresponsible.

It is clear that the world we presently share is intricate, complicated, and intimidating. But the very act of sharing our experience, strength, and hope by means of an intense, passionate, and honest debate encourages change, offers a means of carrying it out, and increases confidence that, together, we can make a difference.