River of Music: 12 hrs Non-stop Music: Sunday 30 October

[MrGongGong]

but would be annoyed if I was unable to follow up an item which interested me - because it was new to me, because I want to know who dunnit, because I might want to know if my'guess' was correct etc.

This is also my immediate reaction
but I found that when I listened, that sounds could be interesting and compelling without my desire to own, possess or classify.
To be really and truly present is a difficult thing to achieve

So much of the time I hear things and immediately think "I WANT that". Having music without non-sonic information is a rare chance to put that aside.

[jean]

...but I found that when I listened, that sounds could be interesting and compelling without my desire to own, possess or classify...

...So much of the time I hear things and immediately think "I WANT that"...

I don't really understand why you think wanting to know more about the music one hears comes from a desire to 'possess' it.

I am not sure I even understand what 'possessing' means in this context.

[Bryn]

I don't really understand why you think wanting to know more about the music one hears comes from a desire to 'possess' it.

I am not sure I even understand what 'possessing' means in this context.

Cage to the rescue?

[MrGongGong]

I don't really understand why you think wanting to know more about the music one hears comes from a desire to 'possess' it.

I am not sure I even understand what 'possessing' means in this context.

I was simply thinking about the experience of hearing without resorting to language to define what the experience was.
I'm not a philosophy student but do remember having strong reactions against the idea that meaning is only created through language.
There is a strong desire to possess and own music, those (myself included) who have multiple versions of the "same" piece are an example of this
as is the idea of "building a library" and so on

Deep Listening without extra-sonic information is an interesting thing to try (I wonder what Pauline Oliveros would think?)

We are so used to music having titles, composers, periods and so on that we maybe think these are always essential.
My experience tells me otherwise (touched on in this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-River.../dp/0253223296)

[MrGongGong]

Cage to the rescue?

As often happens

"Our ears are now in excellent condition"

[Serial_Apologist]

I don't really understand why you think wanting to know more about the music one hears comes from a desire to 'possess' it.

I am not sure I even understand what 'possessing' means in this context.

If (as I believe) everything is in various ways and levels interconnected, and appreciating those interconnections increases one's understanding (and therefore hopefully capacity to act in ways appropriate to situations) then by no means does the fact that information (announcements etc) comes with particular agendas imply that any reality can be better understood freed of pre-thought, even though this is clearly how stuff initially reaches us. The point surely is to appreciate the source of any information on offer and understand its motivation.

[Beef Oven!]

I don't really understand why you think wanting to know more about the music one hears comes from a desire to 'possess' it.

I am not sure I even understand what 'possessing' means in this context.

I take 'possession', in this context, to mean putting the music into a predefined taxonomy before fully experiencing it. Having to make it 'ours' before we consider it for what it simply is, or might be.

[french frank]

God, what's the sense in that?

I think the 'sense' has been made fairly clear: it was a sequence of music representing the output of the Third/Radio 3 over 70 years, not 'The Best of Radio 3'. Were it to have played 'My Boy Bill' or Jurassic Park in among the mainly classical pieces, it would have been fairly representing what Radio 3 has done - for better or worse (you could think of that as The Aberrant Age of Nicholas Kenyon, or The Aberrant Age of Roger Wright). A 12-hour sequence and each individual was free to listen to it (or not) in whatever way they wished.

But I feel it misses the point if people just listened with general approval and think it would be a jolly good thing to have it once a week - a sort of 'Music for Pleasure', for your entertainment. I also think it misses the point to treat it as some sort of 'sonic experience' devoid of anything but the music. There was an idea behind it which different people will react to differently, depending on what they want from their radio/music listening.

[Beef Oven!]

I think the 'sense' has been made fairly clear: it was a sequence of music representing the output of the Third/Radio 3 over 70 years, not 'The Best of Radio 3'. Were it to have played 'My Boy Bill' or Jurassic Park in among the mainly classical pieces, it would have been fairly representing what Radio 3 has done - for better or worse (you could think of that as The Aberrant Age of Nicholas Kenyon, or The Aberrant Age of Roger Wright). A 12-hour sequence and each individual was free to listen to it (or not) in whatever way they wished.

But I feel it misses the point if people just listened with general approval and think it would be a jolly good thing to have it once a week - a sort of 'Music for Pleasure', for your entertainment. I also think it misses the point to treat it as some sort of 'sonic experience' devoid of anything but the music. There was an idea behind it which different people will react to differently, depending on what they want from their radio listening.

Speaking for myself, I haven’t missed the 'point' when I suggest having this type of broadcasting once a month. The 'point' was made and is gone. I simply would enjoy more of it!

[french frank]

Speaking for myself, I haven’t missed the 'point' when I suggest having this type of broadcasting once a month. The 'point' was made and is gone. I simply would enjoy more of it!

I think that was covered in my final sentence.

[MrGongGong]

I also think it misses the point to treat it as some sort of 'sonic experience' devoid of anything but the music. .

I don't think anyone was suggesting that at all.
It's good to have sonic experiences that aren't mitigated by the usual information

(as discussed here http://www.mqup.ca/sonic-experience-...0773529427.php AND available from the usual suspects if that's your preferred method !)

[Beef Oven!]

I think that was covered in my final sentence.

Good that you understand that I didn’t miss the point of the programme.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It was only one day FFS

I know, and there was much that was good about it. The most irritating thing for me has been the self-congratulatory aspect of it all. The R3 page on Facebook went into overdrive on how wonderful it was, telling us how we felt about items chosen.

As for the innocent ear aspect, it might have been effective, had I not recognised nearly everything instantly. I missed the surprises, because 12-hour listening is rarely "listening"; it's background music.

Hence the need for a

PLAYLIST

[french frank]

I don't think anyone was suggesting that at all.
It's good to have sonic experiences that aren't mitigated by the usual information

Yes, that . But that would still miss the point - in my opinion - about the idea behind the event. But, as I suggested, each listener was free to savour the moment or switch off with horrible curses, or whatever. To make of it what they would. But the idea behind it, the intended point, would be the same.

[Beef Oven!]

As for the innocent ear aspect, it might have been effective, had I not recognised nearly everything instantly. I missed the surprises, because 12-hour listening is rarely "listening"; it's background music.

You don’t have to listen for 12 hours. How you listen is entirely a matter for you. And 'background music' is perfectly legitimate music, and listening to music as a background is a perfectly legitimate activity (of course one is never purely listening to the background music (ask John Cage!)).