GMG Classical Music Forum

The Music Room => Composing and Performing => Topic started by: The Emperor on February 05, 2008, 01:19:33 PM

Title: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity.
Post by: The Emperor on February 05, 2008, 01:19:33 PM
I was having a discution somewhere else and i want to hear your opinions.

Can you say a piece is badly orchestrated, produced, etc. or in the end it all comes down to subjectivity and there are no rules?

Opinions.
Title: Re: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity.
Post by: Ephemerid on February 05, 2008, 01:29:11 PM
Quote from: The Emperor on February 05, 2008, 01:19:33 PM
I was having a discution somewhere else and i want to hear your opinions.

Can you say a piece is badly orchestrated, produced, etc. or in the end it all comes down to subjectivity and there are no rules?

Opinions.

I don't think there is some sort of objective standard that can be held against all pieces of music to determine whether it is "good" or "bad." 

As far as orchestration goes, there might be some ineffective writing (like say having an important melody played by a flute in the low register with brass playing big chords around it, that sort of thing maybe?).  Maybe a piece could be judged on certain qualities (a poorly written 12 tone piece, or a poorly written sonata-allegro), but generally speaking each piece has to be taken on its own terms. 

So I suppose it depends on the aim of the piece of music-- what is the composer trying to convey (of course, this is also somewhat subjective isn't it? hmm) and how does he do it?  Does it work? 

That's just a very general answer for now...
Title: Re: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity.
Post by: mikkeljs on February 10, 2008, 07:25:59 AM
Quote from: The Emperor on February 05, 2008, 01:19:33 PM
I was having a discution somewhere else and i want to hear your opinions.

Can you say a piece is badly orchestrated, produced, etc. or in the end it all comes down to subjectivity and there are no rules?

Opinions.

The word subjectivity is incredible negative and destructive to use. So there is no subjectivity in art!

I think you can talk about objectively good music but not objectively bad.
Title: Re: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity.
Post by: greg on February 10, 2008, 04:39:11 PM
wasn't this the topic in the "Greatness in Music" thread?
maybe it has veered off...... and maybe that was on the old forum.



Quote from: The Emperor on February 05, 2008, 01:19:33 PM
I was having a discution somewhere else and i want to hear your opinions.

Can you say a piece is badly orchestrated, produced, etc. or in the end it all comes down to subjectivity and there are no rules?

Opinions.
one of the questions i think about all the time!
I have a few quick thoughts.

1) all distaste, i think, is somehow related to either boredom or confusion, or a combination of the two. The middle road is "interesting".
A general aesthetic of most people is that minimalism (boredom) or atonality (confusion) is bad. (Of course, that's because people don't challenge theirselves to think differently, too...)


...... i'll get to my other thoughts later, though