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The genre I listen to least is country, I can state that plainly. I will gladly, easily, and quickly choose any other genre- I will pull it up on my iTunes and put it on randomize. While I do accept country as something that others enjoy, I do not particularly enjoy most of the work that comes from it. I understand that to most country fans, they easily relate to that music, it brings them comfort whether it's to ease their wounds or possibly even to be close to God, as there are many openly religious country stars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvYBiD5Rj0M
I say country is easily related to because even I can find a few songs I relate to (and even enjoy, Hunter Hayes being one of the few). In my experience, the more upbeat or melancholy love songs are the ones I stick to, or Christmas carols. Being unfortunate in love is something I can relate to, enjoying Christmas for non-religious reasons ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDCmeKs8Zpk ) Being able to relate and understand each other is socially important, culturally important- we all fail in love, yearn for it, and enjoy silly songs. My opinion on the country genre hasn't particularly changed. I just had to really sit down and think about my feelings towards it and how it's important to society. I still don't enjoy it much, but I can come to certain terms with the genre. Hopefully country listeners can understand why I like rock, metal, and lots of other genres under the sun, just not their genre.

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Maybe it's jet lag, maybe it's the writing- but I don't think Ratliff outlined what Endless Inventory is as well as he thought he did. To me, endless inventory would mean a never ending of what a song can contain- sound, noise, lyrics, or rhythm. What an artist does and can put into a song is up to them. It can also mean making an attempt to own and contain the entire music collection of an artist, whether that's because of a connection with the artist or the music they produce. Both I would say are important, though I would honestly be more concerned and curious about what an artist can fit into their music.
The song I chose from Ratliff was Vision of Love by Mariah Carey- mostly because I rarely listen to her music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tov22NtCMC4 she works in a gospel tone, a pop-ish feel, and her whistle tone ability. Since I don't listen to her music much, if ever, I can't dissect it as well but it feels like she's worked a lot in there.
As my own personal example though, I chose Nancy Mulligan by Ed Sheeran. While Mariah did a good job, I think this song does a better job of portraying a form of endless inventory, mostly because I know the artist in question better. Sheeran takes from his own roots with this song, the song is about his family, there's a cacophony of different sounds going on in the tune that meld together well, and he also chooses to use a more tone closer to singing than he usually does. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFlZXlfda6Y
But it can be argued that Mariah's work may have influenced someone who influenced Ed Sheeran. Vision of Love is just one example of her work, I don't have much to go off of.

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A single, resonating tone within a song is meant to represent something. The book says that a continuous tone is meant to represent the musician most of the time, but also stubbornness. And after I read, I went through the songs listed at the end of the chapter, and then some of my favorite songs seeing if I could find that single, repeated tone that appears throughout the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAdtUDaBfRA
Unfortunately, I could mostly just find it in the songs that were listed in the back of the book, but not as often in my own songs. Maybe it’s just not used much in the genres I listen to, or maybe it was easier to find in songs that I knew it would be in. Oddly enough, the song I did find a continuous back tone in was the in the back of Throne by Bring Me the Horizon. It’s a song about survival- from what is for the listener to decide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_qI_F2ZJI
But in the background, I can hear the note, and at 2:02 you can hear it come out with Oli’s voice. As far as symbolism goes, I think the tone says a lot about the feeling of giving up or even going numb but continuing on. Having read the chapter and the symbolism that others have used the single tone for, I’m inclined to agree with the idea behind this musical element.

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Music definitely has a core emotion outside of the listener's experience. There's an emotion in what the musician had in mind, what the notes describe with their sound, how the instruments produce sound, the extra emotion the musician is giving without thinking of it, and even now with music videos in the mix- there are many different emotions flowing in the musical experience. I think this would count as different "states of transmission(Ratliff, 54)". Formalists believe that music has nothing to do with emotion, while expressionists feel that music can trigger emotional responses. Formally pleasing music is music appreciated for technique and skill, sublime music is music that evokes a possibly religious experience. I would define musical sentiment as a language with "a rather weak and ill-defined vocabulary, although a very rich and powerful grammar and syntax.(Ratliff, Rosen. 53)."
Musical transcendence is being wholly consumed by your piece, the music is part of you and extends through you. Even though my time playing clarinet was brief, as was my time in choir, I remember a hint of that feeling. Singing to feel the words and let them go out into the world. Right now I'm not listening to a song that's just about thinking and feeling, I don't think Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87gWaABqGYs) counts for that. But if there was a song I had to mention that takes away my breath it would be One Last Wish by James Horner, a song from the Casper film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVQEAeRyIjI
There aren't any words but even after not seeing the movie for years I could still recall the tune, which instruments were used, the scene.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQU0MhiWBm4
This was how my evening began when I went to my concert for class and I may have had it on repeat for a while after.
Since this is a preview I don't want to say too much, but the arrangement Holst made with Bach's Fugue was my favorite part of the night. I did enjoy Hammersmith and the piece after intermission, but the beginning reminded me of warming up during band class. It was a nice bit of nostalgia for me, I could almost hear Mrs. French again, telling the different sections whether or not they were in tune or not.
Also, it was a bit strange that a good handful of people got up during the intermission and never came back. I guess they didn't read the program notes, or they just don't understand what an intermission is. They must have never attended any musicals or other art performances.