5-hour piano marathon on TTN

[ardcarp]

So, thanks to ardcarp's initial post, I have managed to source and listen to (thrice, under differing circumstances) the original CDs of this huge work.

I'm afraid I have been left disappointed by the whole experience(s).

Yes, the pure or "just" temperament used is fascinating in itself, and is akin to a cold splash of water in the face, but beyond that I have spent many hours feeling very bored indeed. The whole thing sounds - counter-intuitively - (and with works such as the 2 Feldman quartets and any number of pieces by Cage in mind) - hugely self-indulgent: something I have never experienced when listening to the aforementioned Cage and Feldman, despite the sometimes enormous lengths of some of the latter's works. Young's work, for me, just noodles on and on, without intention, nor non-intention...

I formed that impression after a few short immersions into it. I do hope I am not responsible for wasting a huge amount of your time.

[Beef Oven!]

I haven't managed to eat a whole one yet, but I find it very absorbing and only quit listening because I simply had to get some sleep!

[Tapiola]

I formed that impression after a few short immersions into it. I do hope I am not responsible for wasting a huge amount of your time.

Au contraire, ardcarp. I am grateful for the experience, regardless of outcome!

[ahinton]

I haven't managed to eat a whole one yet, but I find it very absorbing and only quit listening because I simply had to get some sleep!

Well, I can think of a number of other vastly more profitably engaging 5-hour (or thereabouts) piano marathons and I'm pretty sure that you can do so too! Ah, well...

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, I can think of a number of other vastly more profitably engaging 5-hour (or thereabouts) piano marathons and I'm pretty sure that you can do so too! Ah, well...

Could be an antidote to insomnia, maybe??

[ahinton]

Could be an antidote to insomnia, maybe??

In assuming that you refer to an antidote to the insomnia that might be induced in some by the marathon concerned, I have every reason to be convinced that the other 5-hour (or thereabouts) piano marathons would each be just that, although far more besides that, of course! Whilst my own experience of the one referred to in the subject is more likely to induce ennui in the eardrum (and elsewhere) than insomnia, I can confirm that, having attended no less than ten public performances of some of those to which I referred (without actually naming them) - one such work six times (twice each at the hands of three performers) and four others once each, with most being not far off the 5-hour mark, one exceeding 7 hours and one occupying 9 hours - I observed no evidence of insomnia, boredom or other similar negative response during any of these. I have also attended quite a number of performances of works or parts of works whose duration exceeded an hour and a half at which I have likewise noted no such reactions. For the record, not all of those performances were of works by the same composer!

Clearly, any such responses or reactions would be down to content or lack thereof rather than duration...

[Beef Oven!]

Well, I can think of a number of other vastly more profitably engaging 5-hour (or thereabouts) piano marathons and I'm pretty sure that you can do so too! Ah, well...

That is true, as you know (but don't tell MrGG!).