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The evolution of sensibility

Nature volume 434, pages 316–319 (2005)Cite this article

Understanding the science behind aesthetic perception could guide and restrain the ‘shock of the new’ approach to music. Composer Roger Reynolds explains how.

There is a period when one is uncertain about the nature of aesthetic value: one is suspended between that which directly appeals and that for which merit is asserted on more abstract grounds. But over time, one learns how to balance the authority of the intellect with that of immediate intuition. One begins to clear paths, the boundaries and directions of which depend on the aesthetic sensibility that one is discovering. What was ‘negotiable’ and open to external influence and internal debate becomes a matter of fact. One knows what one can accept as art. There is no need for the time-consuming process of weighing one evaluation against another. Consideration is not precluded: it is simply that the nature of one's engagement with aesthetic acts alters over time. And a strong level of certainty tends to develop regarding what is and what is not acceptable.

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References

  1. Levitin, D. J. & Cuddy, L. L (eds) Music Percept. 22 167–364 (2004).

  2. McAdams, S. amp; Battier, M. Perception and Creation of a Contemporary Musical Work: The Angel of Death Project by Roger Reynolds, Ircam-Centre Pompidou, Paris (in the press).

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  1. professor of music at the Department of Music, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    Composer Roger Reynolds

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  1. Composer Roger Reynolds
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Reynolds, C. The evolution of sensibility. Nature 434, 316–319 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/434316a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/434316a

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