Re: [microsound] microsound kiosk - adorno

[Christos Carras <ear@xxxxxxxxx>]

"I am not an Adorno expert by any means, but when I encounter his
writings, I often find it hard to get past the extreme marxist politics
which tend to result in some very broad (and in many cases)
indefensible generalisations in relation to so-called 'mass culture'
(a concept which I am very wary of as a rule!!!!). "

i feel its a bit rough on old teddy to call him an extreme marxist... after
all he was consistently crapped on by marxists for - to quote Lukacs -
"taking up residence in the grand hotel abyss", in other words, shying away
from revolutionary practice.

INdeed his writings on "mass culture" instictively make you think that he's
just a snob. It's certainly true that he did not take the time to come into
contact with more alternative forms of "mass culture" especially later in
life. Nonetheless there is IMHO a real danger in missing the valid points he
makes out of a desire to avoid being a snob.

"The other 'problem' i have is his ultra hard core modernist philosophy in
relation to music.Because of this, I am curious as to how you are relating
Adorno to computer music - which Adorno ideas are you using and what is the
nature of the argument? I think this might be interesting."

Maybe i was not clear enough: i'm not relating Adorno's thought to computer
music, i' trying to examine the tension between his later writings of music
(e.g. those in Quasi una fantasia) and the practices of computer music.

ON this though, "modernist" and "computer music" are not necessarily
contradictory.

Christos



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