13.10: Conclusion

These case studies have explored the expansive definitions of “good music” offered by recent Pulitzer committees, a leading art music ensemble, and one of the most famous living classical musicians. All have agreed that quality can be found in many genres and traditions. We might sum up their values according to the five criteria presented in the introduction.

Was every example in this chapter successful at fulfilling its stated purpose? We’ve looked at a lot of dance music—did it inspire you to dance? Did Shaw’s Partita change the way you think about the possible uses for the human voice? Did Marsalis’s “Work Song” cause you to feel the suffering of his oratorio’s protagonists? Was each of these examples exceptional when compared to others of its type?

Is Lamar the best hip-hop artist, and was DAMN. the best hip-hop album of 2017? Is Tehillim a particularly compelling example of minimalist composition? Are the works of Aphex Twin superior to those of other electronic music artists?

Were this examples particularly original? Do they stand out from the field? Is there something about the musical details of Libertango that make it stick in your head? Does the originality of the vision behind Ellington’s Far East Suite qualify it as “better” than other jazz compositions of the era?

The skill of the performer—whether we are talking about Lamar’s accomplished rapping, Roomful of Teeth’s polished singing, Alarm Will Sound’s clever orchestrating, or Ma’s exquisite cello playing—certainly contributes to the quality of each of these examples. Ma in particular has exhibited singular dedication to identify and collaborating with the most accomplished performers from each global tradition. Flawless execution is central to his cross-cultural vision. But what about the skill of the composers? How can we judge that?

Finally, what impact has this music had on society? As an enormously popular performer, Lamar has certainly had an impact—will his legacy shape the future of hip-hop? Copland certainly defined the sound of “Americanness” for generations of composers. That makes him important, but does it make him good? Shaw is still at the beginning of her career—will her future influence determine the quality of Partita in some way?

This book ends as it began: with a long list of questions. None of these questions can be definitively answered, but they are all worth asking. They are worth asking because we listen to music every day, meaning that every day we have the opportunity to engage with an art form that human beings have used to communicate, entertain, and even shape the course of history for tens of thousands of years. We can either listen passively or we can ask questions of what we hear. These questions lead us to listen with greater care, extract more from the music in our lives, and discover new things about the world around us.