4 ms·
There's this joke in the movie "Amadeus" where the emperor (Joseph II?) remarks that Mozart's music has "too many notes". He explains that the human ear can onl
by tgv 4y ago
There's this joke in the movie "Amadeus" where the emperor (Joseph II?) remarks that Mozart's music has "too many notes". He explains that the human ear can only hear so many notes. That might have a element of truth. Our perception is (obviously) limited, and beyond a certain point, complexity becomes overbearing.
But on the other hand, minimal music is a much more recent development, and it is certainly part of the "classical" tradition. There might be a bit of room left before we find the end.
- analog31 4y agoI sometimes think of the flood of notes in a bebop solo as being akin to the dots of color in a pointillist painting. As in, you can take them in as a continuous whole as well as discrete points. There's no end.
- rotexo 4y agoI had that experience with some pieces in this work: https://mikiplayspiano.bandcamp.com/releases https://mikiplayspiano.bandcamp.com/releases A lot of it is sparse, and then there are moments that remind me of the black MIDI genre.
- telesilla 4y agoThe quote was real! "He is a great master, ran the usual critical line, but he cannot restrain his overweening imagination, his chilly intellectualism, his too many notes." I cannot recommend Swafford's biographies on Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven highly enough. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/mozart-swafford/ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/moza... https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/beethoven-anguish/ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/beet... https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/johannes-brahms/ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-swafford/joha...