music is sacred
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/nyregion/ringing-finally-stopped-but-concertgoers-alarm-persists.html
I think that this NY Times article hit the nail on the head when it stated that the relationship between the performer and the audience is sacred.
Here is why:
There are very few things in this world that we would count as sacred, and they are the ones that are of paramount importance to our hearts, our souls, and our very existences. The word “sacred” itself means protected, as in one’s heart, or centrally held beliefs.
By this definition and standing, nothing can be more sacred that a person sharing a connection to the sublime plane of thought and feeling known as music. A truly inspired performance can be described as “divine” or “unearthly”. Many musicians describe the performance as coming from some other place, like their fingers simply take on a mind of their own.
Regardless of where this is coming from (either truly from some other plane or just the musician’s subconscious), it is something that is certainly of great importance.
Furthermore, nothing can be more intimate (as astutely pointed out by Patrick Rothfuss) that a person baring their heart and soul to an audience. We see people as they truly are when we hear a performance, and that connection is as delicate and tender as any lover’s touch. As listeners, we feel what the performer feels, and what the composer feels, and that communication of the heart’s fondest desires and despairs is some of the deepest knowledge that one person can have of another (assuming they are paying attention and haven’t fallen asleep…).
So in my reckoning, I would count the connection between the performer and the audience as “sacred”, among the most sacred things that we can find in our increasingly banal existences.
So when anything happens to break that connection, including cell phones going off, it is the same as someone walking up on a couple’s first kiss and asking them what they want for dinner tonight. It is the same as interrupting a mother and child as they exchange “I love you”s. It is a terrible crime against love, against passion, against art.
This is why I will never get used to people interrupting musical performances with BS, and I never will. And I can understand why the conductor and audience were so pissed off. I would have been livid.
I think that this NY Times article hit the nail on the head when it stated that the relationship between the performer and the audience is sacred.
Here is why:
There are very few things in this world that we would count as sacred, and they are the ones that are of paramount importance to our hearts, our souls, and our very existences. The word “sacred” itself means protected, as in one’s heart, or centrally held beliefs.
By this definition and standing, nothing can be more sacred that a person sharing a connection to the sublime plane of thought and feeling known as music. A truly inspired performance can be described as “divine” or “unearthly”. Many musicians describe the performance as coming from some other place, like their fingers simply take on a mind of their own.
Regardless of where this is coming from (either truly from some other plane or just the musician’s subconscious), it is something that is certainly of great importance.
Furthermore, nothing can be more intimate (as astutely pointed out by Patrick Rothfuss) that a person baring their heart and soul to an audience. We see people as they truly are when we hear a performance, and that connection is as delicate and tender as any lover’s touch. As listeners, we feel what the performer feels, and what the composer feels, and that communication of the heart’s fondest desires and despairs is some of the deepest knowledge that one person can have of another (assuming they are paying attention and haven’t fallen asleep…).
So in my reckoning, I would count the connection between the performer and the audience as “sacred”, among the most sacred things that we can find in our increasingly banal existences.
So when anything happens to break that connection, including cell phones going off, it is the same as someone walking up on a couple’s first kiss and asking them what they want for dinner tonight. It is the same as interrupting a mother and child as they exchange “I love you”s. It is a terrible crime against love, against passion, against art.
This is why I will never get used to people interrupting musical performances with BS, and I never will. And I can understand why the conductor and audience were so pissed off. I would have been livid.