WHAT IS MUSIC?

A language has to be understood in order to be appreciated. Just because many people meet at a concert hall does not mean that they all understand what they will hear. There are many people in a grocery store, but they don't all purchase the same product. Or in a restaurant not every one orders the same item on the menu. People come to concerts for different reasons. It's not important why they come, but what they hear while they are there. Some come because they received free tickets, others to impress their loved one or friends. Still others have season tickets and know not just the compositions but know them in such detail that that they know the soft and loud parts of the composition. Thus taking advantage of the loud parts by pulling out a mirror and checking if they still have the same face they came in with, or is a small improvement called for.
Each composer had his or her own language. No matter what some critics may say. Composers like F. J. Haydn or I. Stravinsky both have their own original way of organizing sounds. If you understood Haydn that does not mean you have to like his entire 104 symphonies, but you will know why you like some and why you don't like the others. Listening to music and not understanding the composers language is like someone talking to you in a language that you don't understand. All you hear are vowels and in music just the sounds. You are missing the important part of how they where organized? Why they where organized in the manner that they were?
Yes, it is possible sometimes to like a composition without understanding why. Perhaps because of the melody, or the type of instrumentation? That might have a certain appeal to you. Is it simple curiosity why certain compositions appeal to you is your brains first step to inquiry for better understanding of a composer's language? It might be that you like it because of repetitive hearings, especially if you where exposed as a child. It might be the mood you're in when listening to a composition. But there is no more enjoyable listening than being able to understand why the composer organized his sounds in such a way that any other way would be useless....
(Complete article available upon request)