Is it music or noise?

Why must critics of so-called “serious” music, such as Mark Swed, insist on shoving down the throats of the public their personal conception of “significant” music of the Western European tradition, particularly when the recipient of their espousal is the Rufus T. Firefly of 20th century composers, John Cage (“The Sound of America,” Jan. 25)?

Swed comments that “If we can accept that no sound is inessential, perhaps we can grow more tolerant in other ways as well.” Is he serious? It sounds suspiciously as if he were trying to intimate that if we paid any attention to Cage and his ilk, brotherly love would spread across the world and put an end to society’s ills. The picture of the little boy wandering the exhibit with his hands clamped firmly over his ears says it all.

If I am to believe Swed’s remark that “all noises are musical,” then I suppose he would expect me -- for my own edification -- to sit through a performance of the sounds of flatulence and retching. Excuse me if I choose to spend my time with Duke Ellington instead.

Carol Weissberg

Chatsworth