The "physical" way of listening?

[cuberdrift]

Hello.

There is this one form of how I perceive music - particularly piano playing - that, I believe, is a vain substitute for musical listening, in a way that it "overtakes" my mind's inclination to the piece's cerebral or emotive elements, resulting in what would be called a destructive, anti-musical process that would end up in me not enjoying hearing the piece at all.

The feeling is rather more "distinct" or "concrete", perhaps somehow related to the "harsh" sensation felt by a metal clashing against another, or the agonizing "shivers" heard from scratches on a blackboard. It therefore replaces what would have been a very moving tone with a sound that told you how "technically accomplished" the performer is. Therefore, the piano's tones become sound, and not music.

Think of this. Are you familiar with that certain, "ear tickling" (I am borrowing from someone's description of Czerny's etudes) sensation when hearing crisp runs? Or that "satisfying" feel you get when a pianist plays all the octaves correctly? These are not musical sensations. Your mind is not made to pay attention to the piece's musical intentions...in a "perfect" performance of a Chopin etude we hear not the poetry but the "cleanness" of the notes...in loud, octavey passages we take sensual pleasure in hearing the "perfectness" and "virtuosity" of the execution of those difficult, difficult, tough chords and octaves...through this the music becomes some sort of "sound effect" and blurs out the artistic ecstasy we would rather have obtained had the piece been a little more friendly to the heart.

This is why I generally am not fond of pieces with extremely fast (but unchanging) tempos, or pieces with tons of loud, bangy chords that seem to serve the purpose of (almost exclusively) the empty gratification over technical mastery. This is why I'm not fond of Liszt's TE no. 4, Mazeppa, a piece in which he decidedly overpowers what musical qualities there are with outgrowths of unneeded notes.

I believe this is more prevalent with piano music, since I am a pianist and am familiar with the technical know-how's of the instrument, therefore I have this tendency to be inclined not towards the poetry, sentimentality, or spirit of a piece, but rather the "clarity" or the "textures" of a piece...the more "physical" aspects of listening.

Sorry, I occasionally suffer from a lack of words to accurately and precisely describe what I am trying to say. 

What do you think? Are you familiar with this sensation, too?

[outin]

The sounds that make up the music music effect me very much on a "physical" level (happens deep in the brain but still feels more physical than intellectual or emotional). Certain sounds and sound combinations cause a very pleasant feeling in the brain (could be described as "brain tickling") resembling physical pleasure.

The same way I find many sounds almost intolerable, even if they are not very loud. The pain is in the brain, not in the ears. The sound of a violin is one example.

[cuberdrift]

The same way I find many sounds almost intolerable, even if they are not very loud. The pain is in the brain, not in the ears. The sound of a violin is one example.

Of course it is. It is not that the harsh tones of Mazeppa actually do literally "hurt" my ears in the physical sense...but its repetitive loud tones pound my head so hard it doesn't turn out as musically enjoyable.