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From: ericksen@unc.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.music.classical
Subject: Re: live performances
Message-ID: <234@unc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Dec-84 15:01:15 EST
Article-I.D.: unc.234
Posted: Thu Dec 20 15:01:15 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Dec-84 00:43:12 EST
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 33

.
	With all the interest in 'what's the attraction of a live performance',
i thought i'd put in my two cents worth.

	one cent:
		> So when a performance is given, even if a peformer takes
		> great liberties with the score ...

	 		That's one thing i go to a live performance for ...
		in that situation i EXPECT to hear a freer interpretation of
		the music than one hears on record.  (By the same token, i
		expect a comfortable, conservative approach on a recording.)

	other cent:
			A major difference between music and, for instance,
		painting is the temporal element inherent in music.  When
		music is 'frozen' on vinyl, that temporal element is some-
		what lost (after all, if i really want to, i can play the
		same three bars over and over for twenty minutes).  With
		this in mind, live music is a much more present-time
		phenomenon than recorded music.

	I should point out that i am not disparaging recorded music; indeed
i am one of those people who likes to hear music played without mistakes,
with the advantages of recording studio acoustics and technology.  I just
wanted to point out some of the positive aspects of live music.  I feel 
these comments are equally valid for either classical or rock music ...
but since this discussion was in net.music.classical, that's where my
article is directed.

Jim Ericksen
Dept of Comp Sci
UNC Chapel Hill