Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
13.4
The Functional Model
13.4.1
Background
In an attempt to address these issues and to detail the process, we created a functional
computer model of a proposed internal referencing process. This, we hoped, should
lead to a comparatively simple version of a conceptual blending model. It is a dynamic
model, which demonstrates the mutually adaptive internal processes that allow tropic
communication to work. We expected to use this model to revisit our observations
and then create new controlled experiments to find evidence for the model. In the
light of this evidence we then expected to refine the model or create a new one.
As a starting point in this investigation, a text by a music critic was chosen from a
music magazine. This text is typical and it is intended to communicate the emotional
effect of a piece of music.
1
(X's) refreshingly iconoclastic insert notes insist that this performance of the Brahms'Second
reveals an 'intrinsic unease' stemming from Horowitz's 'temperamental mismatch' with both
Toscanini and the work itself. That may be true but whatever contentiousness clouded the
recording session, the heat of the occasion forged it into an interpretative virtue. The result is
one of the most arresting recordings of this warhorse ever made. Granted, it's controversial.
This is not the place to seek out the succulence of Brahms's harmonies (passages that are
poignant in other hands sound nervously expectant here) or the sweetness of his melodies
(calls for dolce and espressivo are rebuffed even in the third movement). Rather, Horowitz and
Toscanini deploy every available tool to scratch out any signs of tenderness from this normally
bighearted score: barbed attacks, gaunt tone, angular phrasing, contestatory treatment of
accompaniments, urgent tempos, highly strung rhythms (dotted figures have a special edge).
The climaxes erupt with an unaccustomed violence; and while the finale is notable for its
leggiero, it's the lethal lightness of a well-aimed stiletto. It is, in other words, far from
easy listening. But despite a few moments of scramble, the performance has such ferocious
commitment that it's hard to resist. If the stately account of the Tchaikovsky sounds less
heterodox, that's largely because, in my view, the work is more overtly dramatic to begin
with. Still, even here, the music is pushed to extremes. Every single bar crackles with tension
and Horowitz and Toscanini forgo the music's lyricism in order to wring every possible thrill
from the score. It is, without doubt, a cruel sacrifice; but once again, the reading is so
electrifying that you're compelled to go along with it.
2
On the surface this is a set of undefined, maybe poetic, words. This is especially
problematic if seen, as we did in our initial experiments, as a source for a discrete
lexicon. However if we inspect the text for metaphors a different view emerges.
The metaphors may also be considered the medium for transmission of the musical
experience.
The author of the example critical comment sets the stage with a statement of the
stance he takes and intends to convey.
1
A more detailed account of this work was presented by the authors at the ECAI'02 conference in
Lyons, France in August 2002. See Billinge and Addis (2002).
2
From International Record Review, Vol 3 Issue 5 August 2002: ISSN 1468-5027 p.27.
