Improvisation/Composition

Is it important to know whether or not the music you are listening too is composed or improvised? Does it change your listening criteria? Is the quality affected? Does the knowledge change your listening perception?

I remember a well known harpist telling me that she didn't like listening to composed music much anymore because she could almost always hear where the music was going and could second guess the musical outcome, but when listening to free improvisation, she was constantly surprised in the directions that the music would take and that it was always more fulfilling to her in the end.

Not the usual response from a music listener...in fact I almost always hear the exact opposite response from people. I hear people don't like improvisation because it is formless and sounds chaotic. They like the safe harbor of form and structures laid out before them.

Don't know exactly where I am going with this, but it is fascinating,.