How do you relate to music that is supposed to convey specific meanings, when the references may not be known to you?

In the listenings for Weeks 3 and 4 we have encountered two very different kinds of music. One, a music that organizes itself around references to history, quotation, embedded meanings, messages and evocations (Berg Violin Concerto, Bartok Piano Concerto second movement, Webern in the Bach orchestration). And the other, a music that seems to function […]