Philosophy of Music

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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 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

Musical Ontology

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

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)

Definition

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”.

Realism

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)

Other Ideas

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

Golden Ratio

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

Maths in Music

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?”

My Definition

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

Music & Emotion

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.

Expressivity vs. Representation

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

Expression Theory

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

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).

Arousal Theory

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

Associationism

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

Language of the Emotions

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

“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

Emotional Reactions

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. 

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

Sadness

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). 

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

Understanding

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)

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.”

Musical Importance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio http://

www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html#music

http://www.goldennumber.net/music.htm http://magicsongs.net/made-in-your-image/the-golde

n-ratio-in-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/m

ico-toledo-music-philosophy/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7863036/Plato-ancient-Greek-philosophers-secret-music-code-cracked-by-British-scientists.html

Bibliography