Adorno treats the composer-material relation as either spontaneous bond or negotiated manipulation.

Evidence

It was a problem of whether the bonds between unknown nature in the composer and unknown nature in the material were to be accepted as the ultimate basis, or whether an ever-fallible agreement between subjects over the gentlest form of manipulation was to have the last word. In the latter case, the question would arise of what could motivate these subjects to reach agreement and become concerned about gentleness. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2215

Categorization

• DEFINE: Summarizes the central aesthetic dilemma of Adorno’s informal-music essay: natural affinity versus intersubjective agreement.