“ Anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until someone wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music. ”
Frank Zappa, The Real Frank Zappa Book (1989). copy citation
| Author | Frank Zappa |
|---|---|
| Source | The Real Frank Zappa Book |
| Topic | music perception audience |
| Date | 1989 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://pierroule.com/ZappaRealBook/TheRFZBook.htm |
Context
“If John Cage, for instance, says, "I'm putting a contact microphone on my throat, and I'm going to drink carrot juice, and that's my composition," then his gurgling qualifies as his composition because he put a frame around it and said so. "Take it or leave it, I now will this to be music." After that it's a matter of taste. Without the frame-as-announced, it's a guy swallowing carrot juice.
So, if music is the best, what is music? Anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until someone wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music.
Most people can't deal with that abstraction — or don't want to. They say: "Gimme the tune. Do I like this tune? Does it sound like another tune that I like? The more familiar it is, the better I like it.” source
So, if music is the best, what is music? Anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until someone wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music.
Most people can't deal with that abstraction — or don't want to. They say: "Gimme the tune. Do I like this tune? Does it sound like another tune that I like? The more familiar it is, the better I like it.” source
Meaning and analysis
