- Experimental listening
LCB and EC listened 28 times to the Webern piece. For full descriptions of all listenings, see appendix 2.03.
After the open listenings (No. 1-4), hermeneutical tasks (No. 5-8 and 14-16) lead to descriptions of
the music as characteristic persons acting on a scene. The task of dividing the music into sections
(No. 9-12) contributed to coherence, suggesting an overall form: ”gentle / gentle / intense / gentle”.
Listening for tone qualities (No.17-20) supported previous impressions of emotional expression.
Listening for space (No. 21-22) and time (No. 23-24) entailed a change from hearing ”acting per-
sons” to hearing ”absolute music”. Further listenings (No. 25-26) explored details of sound produc-
tion as a technical correlate of emotional expression.
During the final open listening (No. 28), LCB heard all of Webern’s six Bagatelles for string quartet
for the first time. LCB’ s comment ”Lots of fun!” confirmed that experimental listening of a limited part
of the music can serve as an entry to the whole work.
The session engendered the following additional questions and tasks:
Music-focused
Spatial focus: Listen for the space between high and deep tones.
What happens at the top? What happens at the bottom?Spatial-temporal focus: Listen for qualities of the high tones. Listen for qualities of the deep
sounds. Listen for composite tones.
Sound production: what physical surfaces meet to produce the sound, and how do they
meet?
How does the music come to an end?Temporal focus: Listen for rhythm and pulse versus unrelated events.
Listen for coherence versus interruptions, pauses.
Listen for the field of temporal presence: retention – now - protention.Hermeneutical
Context-related descriptions: Hear the music as persons acting on a scene.