Esthetics Of Music

An account of developments in the aesthetics of music from the mid-eighteenth century onwards.

What is music, what is its value, and what does it mean? In this stimulating volume, Roger Scruton offers a comprehensive account of the nature and significance of music from the perspective of modern philosophy. The study begins with the metaphysics of sound. Scruton 7istinguishes sound from tone; analyzes rhythm, melody, and harmony; and explores the various dimensions of musical organization and musical meaning. Taking on various fashionable theories in the philosophy and theory of music, he presents a compelling case for the moral significance of music, its place in our culture, and the need for taste and discrimination in performing and listening to it. Laying down principles for musical analysis and criticism, this bold work concludes with a theory of culture--and a devastating demolition of modern popular music. "A provocative new study."--The Guardian

Drawing upon a wide range of scholarly enquiry into early music, queer musicology, ethnomusicology, performance practice, music education and technology, Aesthetics and Experience in Music Performance provides a lively forum for the articulation of varied perspectives on the role of music, its interpretation and function in contexts supported by those who practice or experience it. The formal and shorter discussion papers included in this scholarly collection were presented at the National Workshop of the Musicological Society of Australia, held at the University of Queensland, Brisbane in October 2003. The themes of aesthetics and experience are central to this publication and each paper engages in a scholarly dialogue on the technical, expressive and embodied aspects of performance. The papers included in this publication bring together the research of a wide community of scholars (e.g., musicologists, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists and linguists) working in the field of performance studies and collectively reflect the musicological issues being debated in Australia today.

Edward A. Lippman?s writings on musical aesthetics comprise a wide variety of areas and employ both systematic and historical approaches, reflecting throughout his unrivaled knowledge of the philosophical literature on music and his deep understanding of the musical repertory. These essays span a broad range of subjects, from the ancients? sense of what music encompasses to the experience of rhythm in Anton Webern?s work. ø Lippman surveys the physical and physiological factors that condition musical perception, and he explores the effect of sung text in vocal music. In the more purely philosophical realm, he argues persuasively that music speaks in its own terms, not in any formalistic sense but through the symbolic meanings it conveys. ø The historically focused essays include investigations of the aesthetic thinking of Wagner and Schumann, an endeavor that leads Lippman to probe the sources and drives behind musical creativity. Elsewhere he explores the development of particular musical styles. The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Music draws upon both philosophy and musicology in demonstrating how the interpretation of music extends far beyond the scope of conventional theory and analysis.

Music, Language, and Cognition is the third collection of Peter Kivy's seminal papers in the philosophy of music. In essays which span his earliest work in the field and his more recent contributions to journals, anthologies, and conference proceedings, Kivy considers the origin of music, the medium of expression in opera, the role of music in film, the nature of an 'ideal' performance, and the question of whether absolute music has a meaning, among other issues. Rich with critical analysis and informed by the history of both philosophy and music, this volume will be of interest to anyone who likes not only to listen to music, but to think about it as well.

Scientific approach to musical esthetics.