Fr. Antonio Soler's Sole Abode

[Todd]

Words mean nothing without a reader.

If a tree falls in the forest . . .

[Florestan]

Similarly, sounds have no meaning without the listener.

Correction: sounds have no meaning without a cultural and social context.

One person will listen to Soler's Fandango and hear nothing but cacophony, another will hear something else.

Yes, but this is not necessarily an innate individual reaction, it's more a culturally and socially conditioned one. Someone who knows and understands the cultural and social context of Soler's Fandango will hear something different than someone who is ignorant of them, although it's quite possible that the latter person enjoy it as well. I remember a Belgian anthropologist relating how an Amazonian tribe was at first reluctant to interaction with his team, but after playing them a recording of a Mozart symphony, the tribe chief told them that, since they too (the team, that is) have sacred music, he will tell them a few legends about the creation of the world. Go figure, Amazonian savages being impressed by Mozart! Similarly, and much earlier, the Guaranis were so enamored of the European music they heard for the first time that the missionaries were able to teach them to play and compose, and formed whole orchestras with them. But these are just the exceptions which confirm the rule. As a rule of thumb, the more one is aware and appreciative of the cultural context of any given music, the higher the probability that they will enjoy it.

Where music happens? What do you think?

Music happens in the performance. No performance, no music.