MEANINGLESS MAGNIFICENCE by Jis1925@aol.com (john Simon)

Almost as old as the debate about which comes first, the words or the music, is the question of what music means. Otherwise put, is the music saying something specific that the listener can apprehend?Obviously, a sonata or a string quartet is pure, nonspeaking form. But can't a tone poem that calls itself Death and Transfiguration say something verbal about death and whatever transfiguration means to the composer, Ri…

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