“On the whole, the message of the classics is a message of comfort. When they were new, the classics had powers to discomfort as well as to comfort. But by the time they became classics, their powers to discomfort were defused, while their powers to comfort had, if anything, grown. ”
“The powers to discomfort are defused in several ways. A composer's original target disappears: no one can feel threatened by Figaro's anger anymore, and so audiences smile at it. Familiarity softens discomfort: how many times can The Rite of Spring shock? ”
“Time and history accommodate dis- comfort: the Wagnerian revolution may have consigned Rossini's musical practices to history, but now Wagner sits beside Rossini in history and in the repertory. ”
“Classical status itself transforms discomfort: Monteverdi's or Schonberg's boldest progressions have become like inscriptions on a mon- ument, stirring but no longer inflammatory. ”
“The Revolutionary Etude can be played or a Verdi liberation-opera staged in the most oppressed place in the world without fear that it will incite any disturbance. The classics belong to the status quo, the way Ring around the rosy belongs to childhood. ”
我是不是其實就還是蠻愛古典音樂ㄉ