On Mar 24, 2005, at 12:34 PM, cutups wrote:
quoted 4 lines Awesome topic. I think its one that can be applied to any music> Awesome topic. I think its one that can be applied to any music
> or idea really, but it works really well for certain styles that have
> that
> repetitious noteriety.
Interestingly enough, I read a paper on just this topic last fall at
the meeting of the Society for Music Theory (yes, such a thing exists).
Essentially, I tried to historicize the bad rap that repetition has
developed (in music, that is) and then theorized about the pleasures of
listening to "repetitive" music (my examples included Plastikman, Tony
Rohr and Akufen/M.Leclair).
Anyway, it seems to me that the bias against repeating/repetitive music
is a relatively new thing. On the one hand, 19th and 20th century
composers were increasingly interested in deconstructing traditional
musical forms (which were really large-scale repetitive schemes). In
addition, Freud added fuel to the fire by pathologizing repetition as
regressive and childlike (Schoenberg picks up on this in his didactic
writings on composition). And then Adorno probably made the most
aggressive attack on repetition in music, linking it to fascism, social
control, loss of the self, and pseudo-individuation/individualism.
So, there's been an ongoing discourse against repetition since the late
1800s at least. When you consider IDM's efforts to align itself with
"avant-garde" aesthetics, the bias against repetition becomes less
puzzling...
nap time!
Luis
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