In literature and visual art people are always "telling stories", and cultural theory and critical literacy are required for both.

In music it's not that simple. Some try to tell stories, opera and song aside, but, as I said, I don't like it. I prefer a more intuitive approach to music.

Similarly in art there are different kinds of storytelling involved, legitimate and illegitimate. Some of the messages in art (e.g. especially conceptual art) are more applicable to books, and are thus illegitimate. R.B. Kitaj gets away with it, although he's not to my taste, but examples of paintings that are dreadful for this reason are Korean Massacre by Picasso and the Piano Lesson by Matisse.

If any art is required by its creator to be explained, or could be replaced by a written narrative, then the artist should have taken up writing instead.

I seem to be ranting. I have no idea why. Prolly cos I was half expecting my fettled Gewa to be as good as my Breton!

"programmatic music". I couldn't remember what it was called. I began calling it "serial music", then looked that up and realised it wasn't right.

Here's the thing. It's a matter of taste. If someone asks me what paintings to look at, I send them to an art gallery - an ancient and a modern and tell them to find out what they like. If they get a rough idea then they can read a book on art history for context.

If a fiddler asks me what classical music to listen to, it's a matter of taste. I recommend they listen to a radio station for a few weeks (either BBC radio 3 or classical lollipops like Classic FM) and find out what appeals to them and what doesn't.

I don't understand how the circumstances around a composition can help much. The methodology of composing is a conceptual block most of us non-composers have. I suppose the best example is Mozart. If you want his context, read a biography of him. But that won't tell you how he really wrote.

When I was 17 I was stuck in a scientific rut at school. I read the Virgin Soldiers and found it immature rubbish, so I asked a friend who was in the arts what was worth reading. He recommended Solzhenitsyn and Sartre. Lot of good that did me!

I probably still don't understand what the thread is about. Emily wants information on every piece she listens to? I wouldn't be able to remember that much information. Might not a book on the history of music be best? Or a book like Schonberg's The Lives of the Great Composers?