Drew CunninghamDr. FurlongFirst Engagements8/16/12Musicking There must be a link between the nature of symphonic works and the nature of the events at which they are played. That link is flexible, as we can see from the fact that most of them were first played to different audiences and under different conditions from those under which they are played and listened to today; but it must, on the other, exist, since only works from a certain specific repertory are displayed at modern symphony concerts. One does not hear Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer there, or Black and Tan Fantasy or Please Please Me; they are heard in other places, under other conditions. That leads me to a difficult question, which I hesitate to ask but must act: Is there something built into the nature of the works of that repertory that makes performing and listening to them under any circumstances go counter to the way I believe human relationships should be? Do they sing siren song? Or to put it in newspaper headline terms, Was even Mozart wrong? Many people whose views I respect would answer those questions with a firm yes. (Small pg. 16)A passage of importance that is located in the first chapter of Musicking is the last full paragraph located on page 16. This passage in particular is instrumental in Smalls point that he is trying to make that everyone from the composer all the way to ushers in a theatre are important in the action that constitutes as musicking. He is making his point to discredit the thought that only the composer/performers are the only persons that are needed to be involved in the concept of music. Smalls assertion that link between musical works are integrally tied to the events at which they are played is interesting because this brings a whole new realm to what our understanding of music is. As a musician myself I am able to appreciate this point because the audiences reaction to your performance only fuels you to only perform at a higher level than if the crowd is unresponsive. He is comparing how music to our relationships with other human beings, although in a singular matter of communication, and this is the concept on which the gerund musicking is based. The passage applies the chapter as a whole because this is where he is placing his viewpoint on the entire matter. Earlier in the selections he references the opinion that any given performance can only be as fractionally good as intended because any performer will be unable to deliver a perfect rendition of a written composition. This has led to many in the academic community to view rather cynically any performance of any work. Small relates the anecdote of how Brahms refused an invitation to view Mozarts Don Giovanni because he could read it at home and it would be considered perfect. Through the passage on page 16 he refutes the ideas of most scholars and gives his idea of what music as a verb is instead of a noun. Small is adamant in the point that from the composer, through the vessel of the performer, all the way through the audience and those that clean the auditorium are absolutely important to the experience known as music.