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lmm a day ago

Does it in fact have rhythm, melody, harmony, unity, or continuity? If it's too slow for any human to actually observe those qualities in it then I'd argue that it does not.

dagw 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Are you talking about the composition or this particular performance of that composition. This performance may be too slow for any human to actually observe, but the composition is just a piece of sheet music you can read and judge like any other composition. This is far from the first performance of this piece, it's just that most other performances have been in the 20 minute to 20 hour range.

kelnos 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Do photons and electrons not exist, because we cannot observe them directly?

You can certainly play a recording of the piece at whatever speed you desire, and decide if it has rhythm, melody, harmony, unity, and continuity. Extremely slowing the piece down does not remove those things.

robin_reala 20 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s playing a chord, so harmony exists by definition. It also has 600 years of continuity planned in.

cwillu 19 hours ago | parent [-]

And if a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, it makes a sound by definition.

…and yet that answer entirely misses the point that the question is about the choice of definition.