Thursday, August 02, 2007

Contemporary Aesthetics

Hi All,
As promised, here's a new thread, so you can post your thoughts on the issues discussed in our course. Have fun!

1 comment:

Meredith Morrow said...

I think this was easy enough to figure out!

My paper topic deals with the ontology of a musical work, and I am particularly interested in Levinson's essays on "What a Musical Work Is."

In his second essay "What a Musical Work is, Again," Levinson is further clarifying "performance" vs. "instance" of a musical work. In this discusson (p.239) Levinson discusses VIRTUOSITY as a property of a Handel oboe concerto [a topic dear to my heart, needless to say ;-)].

Aside from the nagging yet tempting opportunity to question what "Virtuosity" entails, I have another question. :-)

It appears to me that Levinson discusses VIRTUOSITY as an intrinsic property of the work, which I find strange. I consider pieces challenging, but it is always the performance, or the act of the performer, where I think virtuosity exists.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this subject. (or if I am way off in my interpretation!)

-Meredith Morrow (Ware)