[Myrtle]

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Myrtle,

A very moving post. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

RJT

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....You're very welcome.

I am wondering if you also find that music has similar 'communicative' components for you?

There is the music itself, and then, if there are lyrics along with the music, they must also be factored into its' overall meaning.

Is the form of communication that I'm alluding to just between me and the composer only, or is there some sort of 'universal code' that can be attributed to a particular piece?

In other words, when the music hall is full, and all of us are all listening to the same piece at the same time, is the 'effect' essentialy the same for all of us?

I have a feeling that this is not a black & white issue, which may be stating the obvious.

What I'm searching for goes something like this:

We're all listening to a performance of Liszt's "Faust Symphony", and all of us are familiar with the story line of Faust. We have read the program, and it gives us a written analysis of 'what the music is all about' from the program writers point of view.

Do these two issues not now predispose us to interpreting the music in a certain similar fashion? Or....do they simply set a common baseline for overall interpretation upon which our individual, unique 'understanding' is built?

Have you ever found yourself with another person, and after listening to a piece of music, turning to them and nodding, as if simply saying "ya", convinced that you've both shared the same set of communications without even having to talk about it?

It seems to me that each of our own unique personal histories and experiences must have a bearing on what we 'get' out of any piece of music.

What I'm searching for here is an attempt to come to some sort of understanding as to where the universal 'understanding' (for lack of a better term) is overtaken by the 'personal understanding'?