Listening Attitudes in Music
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Course Materials: Jeff Todd Titon et al. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples, Shorter Version/3rd Edition. Belmont, Ca.: Schirmer,2009, ISBN: 978-0=495-57010-3 (includes 3 audio CDs).
A minimum of 250 words for each threaded discussion is required for your answer to each discussion question. Students may post anytime during the week to either discussion.
Why did the Marquis Wen (p. 253) more than two thousand years ago find ancient music boring, and what has changed in our listening attitudes since then?
Is this true in Western music culture, too? Please cite examples.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Listening Attitudes in Music
During a conversation with Zi Xia, a Confucian scholar, Marquis Wen asks him why he finds it quite boring to listen to ancient music as opposed to the new music from other kingdoms, such as the Wei and Zheng kingdoms. Marquis Wen informs him that whenever he listens to ancient music, he immediately lies down and is asleep within no minute. He does not find the ancient music appealing at all, and according to him, it only serves to tire people and put them to sleep. Zi Xia explains that the ancient music is quite peaceful, moves according to the rhythm of the drums and at a steady beat and speed. From the start of the music to the end piece, it moves cleanly with peaceful sounds.
New music on the other hand, is quite chaotic and uneven, and it is this lack of harmony that keeps Wen awake. Zi Xia further explains to Wen that what he hears when he listens to new music is airs or just sound and not music (Tan, 2008). Ancient music was filled with history, culture, and deep information about the achievements of ancient rulers. It provided guidance on managing family life, personal growth and development, and living peacefully with others.
Judging from the conversation between Zi Xia and Marquis Wen above, it is quite clear that the music of today is quite unlike what was there, in ancient times. Zi Xia describes new music as chaotic and full of vile and unrighteous elements (PureInsight.org, 2012). It is not beneficial to its listeners, and only gets worse with each new generation. Just like Wen, the current western culture listens to the airs and not the music, which indicates that listening attitudes have not changed much since the ancient times.
References
PureInsight.org. (2012, May 21). A Question from History: Why Does Ancient Music Tire People? Retrieved August 19, 2014, from The Epoch Times: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/a-question-from-history-why-does-ancient-music-tire-people-240203.html
Tan, M. A. (2008). A Study of Yuan Zhen’s Life and Verse 809–810: Two Years that Shaped His Politics and Prosody. Madison: ProQuest.
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