I felt like I was right there with Small in "Interlude 3..." about 99% of the time. However, he confused me with the following quote (appearing in the 9th un-numbered page): "But a piece of music appears to have no reference to anything outside its own sound world." This comment responded to the philosophical question, "where does the meaning of a musical composition lie?" Considering the article explains socially constructed meanings and realities, the above "answer" was not what I expected. I have a few problems with this. I am not contending that every piece of music paints a clear representation of something, as a painting on canvas might do. However, there are many pieces of music in which the composer attempted to convey something specific. What about program music, in which composers tell us what their work is "about"? Or music with lyrics? I am not sure how Small feels about sung music considering he is focused on music's power to transcend verbal language. Could lyrics not, however, supplement and be supplmented by music? I agree that each performance enables us to arrive at new versions of meaning. However, I struggle with the concept that music has no reference to anything outside its own sound world." What do you think?