"When you listen to recordings of Beethoven, what conditions do you use? Do you just put the hifi on and and resume what you were doing? Or do you consume a substance/ask everyone in the household to keep silence/listen on headphones/burn incense/snuggle with your wife/perform a magick ceremony? Or do you do different things at different times?"
I think about Korzybksi's notion of subscripts:
Listen1 means listen with one's full attention.
Listen2 means start out listening with one's full attention, but the mind starts to wander and perhaps one falls asleep.
Listen3 one puts the music on and resumes one's normal activity.
In my 11:32 Beethoven experiment I strove for Listen1 but mostly did Listen2. I did not consume substances or burn incense.
For the process of listening to Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas eleven times each, I divided the sonatas into eight sets of four. I associated each set with one of the circuits in the Wilson/Leary eight circuit model. During the first four sonatas I focused on the physical act of listening. I imagined the vibrations coming from the speakers, entering my ears, vibrating my eardrums, entering my nervous system, etc.
During the second set of sonatas I focused on the emotional impact of the music and focused on my breathing as well. During the third set of four I paid attention intellectually, trying to follow the form. I reread the analyses in Charles Rosen's book on the sonatas to help me with this.
Etc. I guess one could model this as a magickal ceremony. I don't think Beethoven intended the sonatas to illustrate the eight circuit model. I just found it an interesting way to come to a deeper understanding of both the sonatas and the eight circuit model.
In the fall I plan to teach Rafi Zabor's novel The Bear Comes Home, so these days my listening focuses on the wonderful "Listening Guide" at end of that terrific novel.
For the process of listening to Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas eleven times each, I divided the sonatas into eight sets of four. I associated each set with one of the circuits in the Wilson/Leary eight circuit model. During the first four sonatas I focused on the physical act of listening. I imagined the vibrations coming from the speakers, entering my ears, vibrating my eardrums, entering my nervous system, etc.
During the second set of sonatas I focused on the emotional impact of the music and focused on my breathing as well. During the third set of four I paid attention intellectually, trying to follow the form. I reread the analyses in Charles Rosen's book on the sonatas to help me with this.
Etc. I guess one could model this as a magickal ceremony. I don't think Beethoven intended the sonatas to illustrate the eight circuit model. I just found it an interesting way to come to a deeper understanding of both the sonatas and the eight circuit model.
In the fall I plan to teach Rafi Zabor's novel The Bear Comes Home, so these days my listening focuses on the wonderful "Listening Guide" at end of that terrific novel.
