Ears with instincts
British book examines why music is necessary, and why the new stuff might not make sense to us
 With 'The Music Instinct', a new book by Philip Ball relased this month in the UK, musicians are again taking sides in the century-old composition debate. Citing recent studies in neuroscience, he explains that a hard-wired need for structure and patterns makes newer compositional techniques hard to swallow. This confirmation that musical education and apathy are less a factor than biology in the mainstream indifference toward modern compositional techniques is likely to stir controversies and accusations that Ball is pandering to the lowest common denominator. However, his observations are well-written and solidly backed up, and are equally likely to become the favorite weapon of those who listen to nothing later than Mahler.Whether you adopt one of these stances or take a more moderate view, the book promises to challenge what any of us knows about what we do. Here are a few articles and reviews from the last few days, to get you started. If you'd rather see for yourself, you can order the book with the link below. (But when you do, let us know what you think in the Forums!) Let the controversy begin... [Telegraph/UK] Article: Audiences aren't dumb, they're hard-wired [Telegraph/UK] Review: Renowned science writer explores music's mysteries [Financial Times] Book review [The Independent] Music more complicated than we thought? [Irish Times] Musical diversity a major part of brain development? [Telegraph/UK] Music as essential lifeforceAnd just for entertainment, here's a great example of bad reporting through simplistic summaries, overstatement and a gender-oriented title that should have been better translated... [OneIndia] 'Why Men Hate Modern Classical Music?' We'll let you know when this book is available in the US.
If you can't wait, order now through Amazon UK here. |
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