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I was rather hoping that, as Gardener began to, people would discuss Fux's attitude in terms of our modern individual ontological demands on music. Too much to hope for here, I guess.
Of course people have always disagreed with things, disliked music, whatever. But the ontological demands that we as a culture place on music are far different from the demands of Fux's time, and that bears thinking about. For instance - why is expositional material in classical music often not repeated now? In Mozart's time, it would of course be repeated, and probably with a little bit of improvisation, if it was in a solo context. What IS the "insanity" that Fux talks about, and today, what does it mean? Which music, for us, joins the ranks of the insane? Can Fux's absolutist view of music even be applied at all? To where can it be applied? Is this application deliberate, or reactionary? How does acclimation affect us, in the context of our musical views? How does saturation affect us, in the context of our musical views, especially as relates to the comparative musical saturation of Fux's time?
Any of these questions can lead to many more related ones. And I realize that a lot of people are more interested or comfortable in just tossing a flippant dismissal off than actually delving into the deeper implications of something that seems archaic and obvious. But thinking never hurt anyone.j
And maybe the fact that some of us can't "take it seriously" without context helps answer some of the questions above. What prevents you from making your own context? From treating the given material in a way that it resonates with your own personal experience? Why does this piece of information not give itself implications in ways that other pieces of information do (see above on saturation)?
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