response 20 of 77:

May 2 18:41 UTC 2007

re #18 because music HAS to be played by others.  When many of these 
composers wrote music, it was before recording had been invented.  
Music was meant to be passed down and reinterpreted.  Tolstoy on the 
other hand did not write War and Peace with the intent that sixteen 
thousand people would re-write the story.  He wanted his version to be 
the definitive and only version of War and Peace.  Every time the book 
was re-typed by someone, and re-printed, it was the same book.  
Reading a book or painting is a direct relationship between the 
reader/viewer and author/painter.  With music, a third person or party 
has to be involved, i.e. the performer.  Unless the performer is a 
robot, you expect the work to be interpreted.

Mozart wrote Don Giovanni so others could perform it and make their 
own interpretations.  Tolstoy wrote War and Peace expecting to be the 
only one who would ever "perform" (in this case write) it.