Does it Matter Where We Begin? Or, On the Art of Preparation and Preluding

[1] Does it matter where we begin? What could this question possibly be asking for? As an anxious question, it usually meets with a simple retort: we have to begin somewhere, so does it really matter where? Perhaps, however, I'm making a false start and should ask whether it matters not where,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Music theory online 2015-09, Vol.21 (3)
Main Author: Goehr, Lydia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audiences
Etiquette
Motion pictures
Noise
Orchestras
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Summary:[1] Does it matter where we begin? What could this question possibly be asking for? As an anxious question, it usually meets with a simple retort: we have to begin somewhere, so does it really matter where? Perhaps, however, I'm making a false start and should ask whether it matters not where, but how, when, or with what we begin--although, just by considering these alternatives, at least I've made a start. I already feel a bit like the white rabbit instructed by the King of Hearts to "begin at the beginning, and go on till the end is reached--and then stop." But Alice quickly enters my world to prevent me seeking too many adventures in Wonderland. Don't descend the path of puzzle and paradox, she warns me--just stick with the Confucian wisdom: that the most successful beginning presupposes a preparation from which it derives its sense as a beginning in the first place.
ISSN:1067-3040
1067-3040
DOI:10.30535/mto.21.3.5