# Pithy Pronouncements...



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Following the lead of *a certain prolific poster on TC*  , I invite you to sum up in one shortish sentence what music means for you. Then, if you like, add a link or cite a work which illustrates your sentence. 
Witty epigrams or soulful endearments are alike welcome and gratefully received. :tiphat:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Music is the miracle of my Third Age.*

Rebel, Chaos and the Elements:


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

*Baroque floats my barque.*

Telemann Watermusic -


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

A moment in time and outside of time.






(Quoting T. S. Eliot, of course.)


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

*Music allows me a glimpse of heaven on earth.*


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*My fiddle, my joy. * :angel:

Biber, Guardian Angel Passacaglia, played by Andrew Manze:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Music can turn the worst things into something beautiful.

Link.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

*What seems like random noise at first can actually be beautiful music.*


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The art of combining sounds produced by different sources: special purpose designed instruments, the human voice, industry, nature, the environment... to complete a single, unified piece of work that extends during an arbitrary amount of time.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

_Music is both my greatest happiness and my deepest regret in life_.

Still have to find an appropriate link...sorry.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Eventually it all resolves and falls into place and finds a way to come together, and so it's beautiful.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Everything and everybody sucks, including music.

Oh... that's _pithy_?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Ukko said:


> Everything and everybody sucks, including music.
> 
> Oh... that's _pithy_?


Pithy - but not pretty...


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*I build my hut in a zone of human habitation,
Yet near me there sounds no noise of horse or coach.
Would you know how that is possible?
A heart that is distant creates a wilderness round it.
I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge,
Then gaze long at the distant summer hills.
The mountain air is fresh at the dusk of day:
The flying birds two by two return.
In these things there lies a deep meaning;
Yet when we would express it, words suddenly fail us.*

The last two lines of this famous poem by Tao Yuanming seem to indicate a truth about art as well as life. So my 'pithy pronouncement' is...
*The best music beckons us from just beyond the border.*

Robert Moran - Requiem: Chant du Cygne (1990) - thanks, PetrB. :tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

*"If music be the food of love, play on!!!*"


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

As a Home listener, Music takes me out of the ordinary and into the fantastic.

As an audience member I'm regularly mesmerised.

As a Musician, I'm the worlds worst audience

'Nuff said!


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Music is a purified realm of energy which allows for the storage and communication of human emotions and impressions.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

_*"Music is a higher revelation than philosophy"*_

Ludwig Von Beethoven

*"Music: The True International Language"*

V


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Music is more when talking is less.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Vesuvius said:


> Music is more when talking is less.


True, but (as the man says) music can express nothing but itself. When we talk, we can express all sorts of nonsense.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Music is one reason I find life worth living - maybe one of the bigger reasons! 

Listen to Bach's E major fugue from WTC Book 2 played by Monsieur Gould. (can't post youtube links, it's blocked because I'm behind on internet payments )

And, another awesome thread, Ingelou :tiphat:


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Okay, here I go. *Ahem*

_Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent_--except in the case of some composers where silence would've been much better!!


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

Music soothes, music calms and music makes modern life more bearable.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*mysticism
ˈmɪstɪsiz(ə)m
noun

belief that union with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or the spiritual apprehension of knowledge inaccessible to the intellect, may be attained through contemplation and self-surrender.*

*Music is a workaday portable variety of mysticism. *

Biber, Mystery of the Assumption, played by Elizabeth Wallfisch:


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Do you guys know the band Pere Ubu? Go listen to it *NOW*

It will surprise you.


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## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Great music reminds us of our divinity.
Good music reminds us of our humanity.
Cheerful music reminds us to have fun.
Obnoxious music reminds us to be tolerant.

Divine human music:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Music can be my mug of ale - *





~~~~~~~~~~~~~*or my glass of claret...*


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Sometimes music is great because it mirrors your feelings, and sometimes it's great because it shuts them out!

With much love to all :tiphat:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Music is like the weather in Britain - an ubiquitous source of fascination, awe, humour, grumbling, gloating, and a way to connect.*

Vivaldi, La Tempesta di Mare -


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Music is great because of Mozart.

Evidence: The Jupiter Symphony, Marriage of Figaro, the 21st piano concerto, and much more.


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

God is music's asymptote.

whoah


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

"Without music, life would be a mistake." 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Vladimir Cholak - Stabat Mater


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Stavrogin said:


> God is music's asymptote.
> 
> whoah


In analytic geometry, an asymptote (/ˈæsɪmptoʊt/) of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as they tend to infinity. Some sources include the requirement that the curve may not cross the line infinitely often, but this is unusual for modern authors.

Had to google it - even then didn't understand it, but had to 'like' it for sheer braininess!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Music is magic.*

Holst - Uranus the Magician:


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> In analytic geometry, an asymptote (/ˈæsɪmptoʊt/) of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as they tend to infinity. Some sources include the requirement that the curve may not cross the line infinitely often, but this is unusual for modern authors.
> 
> Had to google it - even then didn't understand it, but had to 'like' it for sheer braininess!


It just means that music can get closer and closer to God, albeit without ever reaching it


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

*"Why do so many of us try to explain the beauty of music, thus depriving it of its mystery?"*


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

“Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is THE BEST.” 

― Frank Zappa


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

*"If boring is the norm, then music is the antonym"*

The words of a certain artist.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Aha! Finally thought of one:
The piano is my forte.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

*Pure and simple*


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Lucky cellist. Gets to sit down.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Music's Beauty is Ever Green.*


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2015)

Music saves me.


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## Überstürzter Neumann (Jan 1, 2014)

*The wheel of Ixion stands still.*


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

"To some people music is like food; to others like medicine; to others like a fan."
___~ The Arabian Nights; (The Porter and Three Ladies of Baghdad.)

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak." ~ William Congreve

"Without music, life would be a mistake." ~ Friederich Nietsche

"Even a duck can hear." ~ Stravinsky (paraphrased.)

"If I'd wanted a B-flat there, I would have written one." ~ Arnold Schoenberg

"Without 4'33", music would not be life." (Dim7 -- ADD: after checking w Dim7, he can not recall having heard this anywhere else, and is fairly certain he 'thunk it up.' Ergo: congrats... it is a great spin on the famous Nietsche quote, and shows a real understanding of 4'33'' -- which is what makes the quip funny, based on truth, as it were


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

hpowders said:


> *"Why do so many of us try to explain the beauty of music, thus depriving it of its mystery?"*


People like solving mysteries. Is that weird? Also explaining it is pretty useful if you want to compose.

Not that I can't sympathize with the sentiment behind that quote though. Plus that quote is in the form of a question, not a statement, and it's a good question.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

hpowders said:


> *What seems like random noise at first can actually be beautiful music.*


I wonder if the opposite is possible.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Aha! Finally thought of one:
> The piano is my forte.


To be picky, that use of forte is common throughout the English speaking world, but that is the _Italian for "Loud"_ and the original phrase used the _French, "fort," as in strong = strength._ So, it might look odd, be correct, yet read like a pun if it were:
"The piano is my fort."


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

View attachment 63555


Dunno for sure to whom this one is attributed to (auerbach, picasso, waldron) but it sums it up pretty nicely for me...


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Great music is the single silken thread capable of pulling the freighter beyond the oceans of muck.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I have to go pith now . Excuse me .


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

"A lie is not a lie if you believe it." George Costanza.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

"Lemons" .


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2015)

hpowders said:


> "A lie is not a lie if you believe it." George Costanza.


I was telling someone on Tuesday that, despite the greater immediacy of Kramer's character, Costanza embodies the philosophical core of Seinfeldian texts. Or something like that.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I always look forward to having a Bach's lunch ... .


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Because music creates a disbelief in what you sense, music creates a belief in what you don't sense.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I'm tempted to post some quotes I consider most corny/pretentious/sentimental but I'm afraid it would be too mean-spirited for this forum.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Dim7 said:


> I'm tempted to post some quotes I consider most corny/pretentious/sentimental but I'm afraid it would be too mean-spirited for this forum.


Hey, "Pithy" is the only given criterion, so that does not mean exclusively all nice as in:
___Sugar and spice
___And everything nice, 
So bring on the:
___Snips* and snails
___And puppy-dogs' tails"
* also written instead of Snips: _frogs, snakes, slugs._


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Okay, here goes:

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."
By Beethoven, supposedly.

It's pretty imaginative though, as one might expect from Beethoven, but I can't help laughing at it :lol:


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

Music just IS.

I am the prince of pith.

Or maybe I'm just taking the pith.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> Okay, here goes:
> 
> "Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."
> By Beethoven, supposedly.
> ...


 Why?
It's a bit high-falutin' and mystical, but so what?

Moreover, 'pithy' it is *not*!


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I guess it's just so over-the-top. And as for pithiness, it's just a little bit longer than some other quotes here. An essay it is not.


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## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Dim7 said:


> Okay, here goes:
> 
> "*Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.*"
> By Beethoven, supposedly.
> ...


Makes perfect sense to me.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> I guess it's just so over-the-top. And as for pithiness, it's just a little bit longer than some other quotes here. An essay it is not.


You have to make allowances for a change in style. If early nineteenth-century educated folk were to hear us talk, they'd think we weren't urbane or eloquent enough. Beethoven's utterance isn't 'over the top' in the context of philosophic observations *then*.

I'm a retired English teacher, so I always try to keep one eye on history and how it would have sounded or come across originally.

It could just be that in a hundred years time people will read TC - the serious bits - and find it similarly amusing. But I maintain that those future folk will be somewhat lacking in empathy.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Moreover, it isn't pithy in the sense that the OP requested - 'I invite you to sum up in *one shortish sentence* what music means *for you*... Witty epigrams or soulful endearments are alike welcome and gratefully received.'

Even the 'soulful endearment' was seen in terms of 'one *shortish* sentence'.

So - what does music mean *for you*, Dim7? :tiphat:


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Difficult.. maybe:

"Music is abstract shapes you can paint your own details to"


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Death and Transfiguration: 4'33", more or less.

(an hpowders metaphysical post)


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> Difficult.. maybe:
> 
> "Music is abstract shapes you can paint your own details to"


Rather poetic!


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

PetrB said:


> To be picky, that use of forte is common throughout the English speaking world, but that is the _Italian for "Loud"_ and the original phrase used the _French, "fort," as in strong = strength._ So, it might look odd, be correct, yet read like a pun if it were:
> "The piano is my fort."


To be even pickier, in Italian it is perfectly correct to use "forte" in the sense of "strength".

La pazienza non è il mio forte = Patience is not my strength.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Where words fail, music speaks, so all pithy pronouncements ultimately fall short!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

“Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen’s Music, described the BBC’s pop programme as ‘aural hashish’, but it’s not that good.” ~ Richard Neville ‘Playpower’ 1974


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

"Not everything worth doing is worth doing well"


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

May the Pith be with you.



Dave Whitmore said:


> Music just IS.
> 
> I am the prince of pith.
> 
> Or maybe I'm just taking the pith.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Becca said:


> "Not everything worth doing is worth doing well"


. . . and concomitantly: "_Don't_ 'do onto others'- they may not like it."

_;D_


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

About that beethoven quote, I wonder what he meant by "music comprehending mankind", metaphorically speaking. Did he say that just because it sounds cool? I also have to disagree about mankind not comprehending music - certainly some people comprehend it quite well, both on emotional and intellectual way.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

“Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love. ” 
― Hector Berlioz


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## echmain (Jan 18, 2013)

"Ah music...a magic beyond all we do here"

-- Albus Dumbledore


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Pithy posts are not sleep-inducing.

(An hpowders original thought, donated to TC for meditation and reflection)


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Pithy posts are not sleep-inducing.
> 
> (An hpowders original thought, donated to TC *for meditation and reflection*)


Would it be good to play 4'33'' while I reflect on this?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> Okay, here goes:
> 
> "Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."
> By Beethoven, supposedly...





Dim7 said:


> About that beethoven quote, I wonder what he meant by "music comprehending mankind", metaphorically speaking. Did he say that just because it sounds cool? I also have to disagree about mankind not comprehending music - certainly some people comprehend it quite well, both on emotional and intellectual way.


He doesn't say that music comprehends mankind or that people don't comprehend music.

He is talking about *the higher world of knowledge*; I take it that this is a mystical idea, that we are enveloped and known by a World of Knowing, or by a Knower - it could be an elliptical way of referring to God. This was quite common, especially in the eighteenth century, the age of Deism - the All-Knowing, the Author, etc - and that way of thinking and talking would have lingered on.

Notice that in this first use of 'comprehend' the word is used as a pun, since the word can mean both 'include, surround' and also 'understand'.

He then says that though the higher world of knowledge/ Omniscient Being comprehends us, we - humanity - do not comprehend/understand the higher world of knowledge.

It's very much of its age, and is more about Beethoven's world view than music. If I *had to* paraphrase it (I'd be reluctant), I'd probably say, '*Music is the only intellectual pursuit that allows us a way in to the realm of higher thought that surrounds us and understands us - though we, of course, can never understand this realm ourselves.'*

PS Taggart thinks that the 'double-meaning' usage of 'comprehend' is analogous to its use in John Chapter I - 
*And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.*


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Ingélou's post is the one incorporeal entrance into Beethoven's quote which comprehends Dim7 but which Dim7 cannot comprehend.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Aw shucks, you're too kind - I'm only one of hundreds of incorporeal entrances!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Would it be good to play 4'33'' while I reflect on this?


Absolutely or if you need to take your time, feel free to play it again at 8'66".

I'm quite proud of my rare assortment of philosophical posts.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

"When it comes to music, pedantry is a sin." -Me


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

“Beethoven tells you what it's like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it's like to be human. Bach tells you what it's like to be the universe.” - Douglas Adams


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

"The purest form of great classical music is the one that touches the soul, universally and over time." - ArtMusic


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Music is my favorite way to fill time's vacuum


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Music is the painting on the wall of memory' s museum


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Music is the soil in which grows five hundred meaningless and sixteen meaningful posts a day.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

(Certain) music is one of the very few _perfect_ things in existence.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I like music


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

..and we still don't know how it works.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Whenever a boundary is placed in art, with the proclamation "Here, and no further," one can be sure that the boundary has already been transgressed.


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## TradeMark (Mar 12, 2015)

Music causes me to procrastinate on my homework.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Classical Music is a distant third, to Wife and Golf.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

"dodecaphonic music is USELESS" - Pierre Boulez


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