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Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit Laurie Andersonâs grand theatrical treatise, an avant-garde piece comprised of sound sculpture and rock music, gender and social studies, philosophy and linguistics.
On January 25, 1983, Reagan delivered a rousing State of the Union to a country reeling from a recession. He bid for inspiration. âAs surely as Americaâs pioneer spirit made us the industrial giant of the 20th century,â he said, âthe same pioneer spirit today is opening up on another vast front of opportunity, the frontier of high technology.â He had, he said, âa vision not only of what the world around us is today, but what we as a free people can make it be tomorrow.â Six weeks later, in the premiere of his blockbuster âEvil Empire Speech,â he told an audience of the newly-ascendant Christian Right, â
“How to Listen,” the six-month weekly series that dived into so-called classical music, was not my idea. The suggestion that I rely on a lifetime of listening to guide readers who may be interested in expanding musical horizons through my selection of pieces seemed a reasonable enterprise, although I had no idea how I would go about it.
I did, at first, resist titling it “How to Listen.” In the back of my mind was what Virgil Thomson liked to call the music appreciation racket. What I hadn’t counted on, however, was that the series would not be me telling you how to listen, but me finding out how to listen myself as I worked through 25 pieces that I figured I knew pretty well.