The Musical TimespaceAn Investigation of Music Listening based on the music of Xenakis, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Ives and Coleman Hawkins
A concise version of The Musical Timespace (1996) presents an investigation of the listening dimensions in music and the experience of musical space. The concise version consists of selected excerpts of the original text. Approximately half of the text is included. The original text is maintained, except for minor corrections. Thus, the selection of excerpts does not represent a revised edition of the book. The aim of the shortening is to clarify the investigation of the listening dimensions by omitting parts of the text that appear to be weakly underpinned. Criteria for the omissions are presented in a brief concluding discussion.The investigation suggests that particular properties of sound constitute the listening dimensions that interact in music perception and musical experience. It is a basic presupposition of the investigation that hearing is not designed for music listening, but for survival in the surrounding world. The essential functions of listening are the identification and localization of sound, and the detection of movement. Basis for the investigation is music that explores the natural continuum of sound, which is not divided into discrete steps.