Modern dilemmas

[sawyl]

A question of modern etiquette: what does one do when one is interrupted listening to a piece of music? I think Gordon Zellaby put it rather elegantly:

'I hope you don't mind,' he apologized. 'One feels that once Bach has started his pattern he should be allowed to finish it. Besides,' he added, glancing at the playing-cabinet, 'we still lack a code for dealing with these innovations. Is the art of the musician less worthy of respect simply because he is not present in person? What is the gracious thing? — For me to defer to you, for you to defer to me, or for both of us to defer to genius — even genius at second-hand? Nobody can tell us. We shall never know.

Of course he also answered his own question by refusing to interrupt the recording: we defer to genius, albeit second hand genius. I can identify with that; especially if we're talking about the Bach Double Violin Concerto which, although it's never specified, is what I've always assumed he was listening to.