Transcript Philosophy of Music

Navar Amici

 Philosophy of music is the study of “fundamental
questions about the nature of music and our
experience of it”, Wikipedia
 Most people have a significant background in music
as a result of being members of a musical culture.
 But why is music such an integral part of not only
our society but in all significant cultures across the
globe?
Musical Ontology

 Musical ontology is “the study of the kinds of
musical things there are and the relations that hold
between them”
 The most discussed issues within this field have been
the metaphysical nature of works of classical music,
and the ‘authentic performance’ relation between
such works and their performances

 Music is perhaps the art that presents the most
philosophical puzzles
 What music is is not instantly definable like a (non
abstract) painting is as a combination of simple physical
objects
 Music is presented in separate and unique instances
known as “performances which offer interpretations of
the work, yet the work can also be interpreted
independently of any performance, and performances
themselves can be interpreted
 Music is an art renowned for being steeped with meaning,
and yet, unlike drama, pure instrumental music has no
obvious semantic content

 Central to many philosophers' thinking on these
subjects has been music's apparent ability to express
emotions while remaining an abstract art in some
sense
 Pure music, is the most puzzling form of art because
it is left unexplained by lyrics but still conveys strong
emotions
Definition

 David Davies argues all forms of art are actions, and in music in
particular are the compositional actions of their composers
(2004).
 Collingwood (1938) and Sartre (1940) are both Idealists (A belief
that is guided more by ideals than by practical considerations)
Collingwood believe musical works to be imaginary objects and
experiences.
 Nominalists (who follow the doctrine that universals or general
ideas are merely names without any corresponding reality, and
that only particular objects exist) believe that musical works are
collections should be thought of as individual scores and
performances (Goodman 1968, Predelli 1995, Caplan and
Matheson 2006)
Realism

 Realism maintains the view that musical works are
abstract objects,
 This is currently the most popular view since it
respects more of our “pre-theoretic intuitions about
musical works than any of the other theories”.
Other Ideas

 Platonism claims that works are “eternal existents”,
existing in neither space nor time (Kivy 1983, Dodd
2000)
 The alternative to Platonism is Creationism
 One of Creationism’s main motivations is a respect
for our intuition that musical works are creatable
 Music can therefore not be eternal, but must come to
exist in time as the result of human action (Levinson
1980)
Golden Ratio

 The Golden Ratio in mathematics and the arts is a
combination of two quantities.
 “the golden ratio is achieved if the ratio of the sum of the
quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the
larger quantity to the smaller one”, Wikipedia
 Many of Chopin’s pieces, predominantly Etudes (studies)
and Nocturnes, are based on the golden ratio
 Although it is not known whether its inclusion was
intentional, several of Mozart and Beethoven’s pieces
(most notably his 5th symphony) fit the golden ratio, with
very little deviation.
 Baginsky and Stradivari, two very famous violin makers
both used the golden ratio in construction of their violins
Maths in Music

 Pythagoras also proposed that music was a mathematical
expression and created his own theorem as to
 This evidence suggests that music is not a mysterious
metaphysical anomaly but rather a matter of mathematics
 An expressive art form brought down to simple
calculations
 But simply because an equation has been made to create
the “perfect” song it does not explain the unorthodox
brilliance of musicians like Thelonious Monk whose
music lies well outside the golden ratio
 How can such “imperfect” music still be appreciated and
compared to pieces which fit the Golden Ratio
My Definition

 Music, in its most basic form, a sequence of intentionally
coordinated sounds
 Such a broad definition is needed for the branching
genres that are classified as music today
 The lyrical accompaniment to a piece of music is a vocal
expression performed in a melody and tone that do not
represent that of general conversation.
 Although Plato said in The Republic, Book III (398-403)
“there will surely be no difference between words which
are and which are not set to music; both will conform to
the same laws, and these have already been determined
by us?”
Music & Emotion

 One of the most widely discussed philosophical
question concerning music is that of how music can
express emotions.
 Further sub-questions of this topic include:
 why and how we respond emotionally to music
 the value of such responses, and why we choose to
listen to music that elicits negative responses from
us, such as sadness.
 These are especially questioning in the case of
“pure” unlyricised music
Expressivity vs.
Representation

 Most theorists distinguish between expressivity and
representation, claiming that music is expressive of
emotions rather than representing them
 An example of representation is, a painting of person
crying
 The picture could be painted in such a style that the
painting shows a persons sadness, but is itself not
sad.
Expression Theory

 The expression theory says that:
 Pieces of music or performances of them are expressions
of emotion
 They are not the piece's or performance's emotions, but
rather those of the composer or performer
 However neither composers nor performers often
experience the emotions their music is expressive of as it
is produced
 Therefore it is unlikely that a composer could create, or a
performer perform, a piece expressive of an emotion that
she had never experienced

 Put simply:
 If a composer is to express his sadness, by writing a
sad piece, he must write the correct kind of piece.
 In other words, if he is a bad composer he might fail
to express his emotion (accurately).
 This highlights the second major problem of the
expression theory.
 If a composer can fail to express his emotions in a
piece, then the music he writes is expressive
independently of the emotion he is experiencing
Arousal Theory

 The expressiveness of a section of music amounts to
its ability to arouse that emotion in an
(understanding) listener
 Emotions, such as fear, require something
threatening, yet there is (usually) no such object
present when we hear music that evokes fear
 The listener's response (to a piece of music) depends
upon the emotion expressed
 Therefore the expressivity of a piece of music cannot
depend upon the response (in this case fear).
Associationism

 Associationism holds that music's expressivity is a
matter of “conventional association of certain
musical elements”, with a particular emotional state
 such as a slow tempo with sadness
 associations must play a role in some cases of
expression
 for example, cases of particular musical instruments,
such as the snare drum, being associated with
particular situations, such as war
Language of the
Emotions

 Music has long been known and used to convey emotions
 It is often described as a language which expresses the
emotions we cannot with words
 The question of why we are effected by these coordinated
frequencies and sounds has plagued philosophers for
generations
 The point to which music has become a part of peoples
lives, in cultures all around the world, is testament to the
importance of music has
 And the potential benefits of fully understanding it can
have

 Susanne Langer theorised that music is about the
emotions in a symbolic, yet non-linguistic way (1953)
 However even if music were about the emotions in
the way that language can be, that would not
account for music's expressivity.
 The sentence ‘I am happy’ is about the emotions, but
it is not expressive of happiness in the way a smiley
face is
 I could though, use either to express my happiness
Emotional Reactions

 “not all emotional responses are cognitive”,
Robinson 1994.
 For instance, it is no more puzzling that one could be
startled by a fortissimo blow to a bass drum than that
one could so respond to a thunderclap.
 Similarly, we might respond non-cognitively to basic
musical elements such as tension and release

 higher-order emotional responses, there are at least
two possible explanations. One appeals to the
phenomenon of ‘emotional contagion’ or ‘mirroring
responses' (Davies 1994, 279-307; 2006, 186-8). When
surrounded by moping people, one tends to become
sad.
 when ‘surrounded’ by music that presents an
appearance of sadness, one might become sad, but
not sad about the music, or anything else (Radford
1991)

 Possibility that one imagines that the music is a literal
expression of emotion. This means that emotional
responses to music's expressivity are no more
puzzling than emotional responses to other
expressive imagined agents, such as fictional
characters in novels.
 the question of how and why we respond
emotionally to fictions is itself a philosophical
problem of some magnitude

 it is not clear our emotional responses to the
expressivity of music are the same as those to
emotionally expressive characters. For instance, the
standard example of an emotional response to music
is being made sad by a funeral march, while the
standard example of emotional response to fiction is
(something like) to feel pity for a sad character.
Sadness

 Many pieces of music express a feeling of definite
sadness
 But why we seek out music that arouses negative
emotions in us is still unknown
 According to Aristotle's theory of catharsis “our
negative emotional response to negatively expressive
art results in a (positive) psychological purgation of
the negative emotions”, (Aristotle 1987)
 Therefore the sadness we feel from listening to a
song positively affects our emotional state

 suggestion that, since these emotions are without
‘life implications’ (that is, as discussed above, we are
not sad about anything), we are able to take
advantage of our responses to savor these emotions,
gain an understanding of them, and be reassured
that we have the capacity to feel them (Levinson
1982)

 responses such as sadness that are evoked by
expressive music are not really negative. Hume
argues, with respect to tragedy, that the pleasure we
take in the mode of presentation of the content of an
artwork does not simply counterbalance the negative
emotion evoked, but rather subsumes and
transforms it into a pleasurable feeling (1757).
Understanding

 Whilst a dog might be frightened by the loud noise
emitted by a stereo., we (as humans) can listen to it
with understanding.
 The mere sound of a piece of music can be represented by
a sonogram
 However our experience of it as music is better
represented by something like a marked-up score
 We hear individual notes that make up distinct melodies,
harmonies and rhythms, sections,
 So the only true way to “experience” music is to hear the
interaction between these elements

 One persons experience of a musical piece may be
entirely different to another's depending on each
individuals interpretation.
 “I may hear more in a particular piece than you do,
but my understanding of it may be inaccurate. My
general musical understanding may be narrow, in
the sense that I only understand one kind of music,
while you understand many different kinds (Budd
1985).

 Although it is acknowledged that theoretical knowledge can
aid understanding of a piece of music it is widely accepted that
anyone can appreciate and “feel” the emotion of a music.
 “ in addition to purely musical features, understanding the
emotions expressed in a piece (of classical music, at least) is
essential to adequately understanding it”, (Ridley 1993)
 Though one must have recourse to technical terms, such as
‘melody’, ‘dominant seventh’, ‘sonata form’, and so on, in order
to describe specific musical experiences, and the musical
experience in general, it is widely agreed that one need not
possess these concepts explicitly, nor the correlative vocabulary
or in order to listen with understanding (Budd 1985)
Musical Importance

 Throughout time the importance of music has been spoken of and its
emotional connection appreciated by cultures and societies around th
world
 “Music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be
introduced into the education of the young”, Aristotle
 Even Plato who thought that all art forms were a distraction from our
true selves ,and said that…
 “The overseers must be watchful against its insensible corruption. They
must throughout be watchful against innovations in music and
gymnastics counter to the established order, and to the best of their
power guard against them, fearing when anyone says that that song is
most regarded among men “which hovers newest on the singer’s lips”,
Plato (Republic, Odyssey i. 351)
 Still had this to say about the enchantment of music “Music is a moral
law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the
imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”

Bibliography

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio
 http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hostedsites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html#music
 http://www.goldennumber.net/music.htm
 http://magicsongs.net/made-in-your-image/the-golden-ratioin-music/
 http://171.67.193.20/entries/music/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_music
 http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/05/21/micotoledo-music-philosophy/
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7863036/Pl
ato-ancient-Greek-philosophers-secret-music-code-cracked-byBritish-scientists.html