‘Listening Experience’, The Journal of the British Universities Film and Video Council, Vol 95, pp. 6-7.

Simon Brown has had an article describing the project published in the British Universities Film & Video Council’s journal, Viewfinder, available at http://bufvc.ac.uk/articles/the-listening-experience

Abstract: In his speech, ‘On Receiving the First Aspen Award’, Benjamin Britten described ‘true musical experience’ as a ‘holy triangle of composer, performer and listener’. When we think of this concept, we usually consider it to be three equal sides of a triangle, with all three participants in the musical experience being equal partners. However, when we consider the written history of music, things are anything but equal; you only need to visit the library or retrieve a quick Internet search to reveal the vast amounts of information on composers and performers. These are the people we celebrate, whose names enter the imaginary museum of musical works. For most people, they are the focus of our attention, but what about the listeners? If we accept Britten’s idea that the listener is an intrinsic and vital part of the experience – how can we hope to understand the history of music if we’re only getting two thirds of the story? This short paper attempts to explain the purpose and methodology behind the Listening Experience Database project.