Help wanted on relation between music and philosphy
William Lloyd
I'm generally sceptical of this notion, but there is a marvellous book that
I've recommended whenever possible, called (as near as I can remember)
"Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Beauty, and Virtue in Mozart's
Operas." We have hear at least the virtue of dealing with text as well....
Samuel Vriezen <s...@xs4all.nl> wrote in article
<340f336...@news.xs4all.nl>...
> Hello everyone.
>
> I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
> and trying to write a paper for my music history class. Since I have
> an interest in philosophy I thought why not write a paper on the
> relationships that have existed between philosophy and music? My
> teacher agreed to my plan, provided that it would contain enough of
> music history and not turn into a systematic acount of aesthetics. The
> paper would not have to be too technical or scientific.
>
> What I would like to do is pick out a few epochs, or a few prominent
> figures such as philosophers with clear musical interests
> (Schopenhauer or Nietzsche or Adorno), or examine the influences of
> philosphy on composers throughout the ages. I would like to include
> chapters on the Greeks and on Medieval music as well on contemporary
> issues and figures.
>
> Can any of you suggest reading material, figures that are interesting,
> etc? Any help is welcome. Please post responses or email me directly.
> Thank you for your attention.
>
> Samuel Vriezen
> sqv @ xs4all . nl
>
Gregory Taylor
>I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
>and trying to write a paper for my music history class.
Welke hoogleraar? Als 't Boehmer is, Adorno (natuurlijk) of Attali. :-)
Why not go for Kepler's theory on the Harmony of the Spheres and
the musical theory associated with it in metaphysical terms?
If you wanna go for the analytical tradition, argue that a musical score
is/is not an example of that class of philosophical objects known as
"concrete particulars." Use a smudgy Bach autograph and Cornelius Cardew's
"Treatise" as the bookends for your paper.
How about looking at Umberto Eco's essay on "The Open Work" in terms of
his earlier writings on Benedetto Croce?
Sorry - I'm just thinking of papers I'd like to hear.
--
When I pronounce the word Future,/the first syllable already belongs to the
past./When I pronounce the word Silence,/I destroy it./When I pronounce the
word Nothing,/I make something no nonbeing can hold./ (Wislawa Szymborska)
Gregory Taylor WORT-FM URL:http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~gtaylor/RTQE.html
CONSTANTIN MARCOU
Samuel Vriezen wrote:
>
> Hello everyone.
>
> I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
> an interest in philosophy I thought why not write a paper on the
> relationships that have existed between philosophy and music? My
> teacher agreed to my plan, provided that it would contain enough of
> music history and not turn into a systematic acount of aesthetics. The
> paper would not have to be too technical or scientific.
>
> What I would like to do is pick out a few epochs, or a few prominent
> figures such as philosophers with clear musical interests
> (Schopenhauer or Nietzsche or Adorno), or examine the influences of
> philosphy on composers throughout the ages. I would like to include
> chapters on the Greeks and on Medieval music as well on contemporary
> issues and figures.
>
> Can any of you suggest reading material, figures that are interesting,
> etc? Any help is welcome. Please post responses or email me directly.
> Thank you for your attention.
>
> Samuel Vriezen
> sqv @ xs4all . nl
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau wrote a book called "Wagner & Nietzsche" that
is quite interesting (although I can't judge how scholarly it is.) I
didn't even know Nietzsche was a musician until I read it!
--
Best regards,
Con
*****************************************************************
"Mozart is too easy for beginners and too difficult for artists."
- Artur Schnabel
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To reply delete "jetencule" from address.
lanza
Rousseau not only wrote great philosophy, among other things, but wrote
music himself, as well as commentaries on music (some of his ideas
anticipate Debussy's use of the vocal line in Pelleas. Nietzsche, of
course, wrote music & (from I hear) he may have written a few
philosophical books as well. :) O Mensch! O Mensch! Gib acht! Was
spracht die mitternacht? Die tief mitternacht?
Also, of course, you can get a digest of everybody else's ideas about
music by reading Lenny's Joy of Muisc. :)
**********************************
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.
--YEATS, A Dialogue of Self & Soul
**********************************
S. Alan Schweitzer
I have collected for our library several titles in the field which may
be of interest to you; some include:
Philosophy Of Modern Music, by Theodor Adorno
The Interpretation Of Music: Philosophical Essays, ed. Michael Krausz
Music And The Emotions by Malcolm Budd; this is subtitled "The
Philosophical Theories
Music And The Mind by Anthony Storr
Many articles and essays generated in aforementioned titles are
penetrating and insightful. A title which we do not own is the
study by the late British composer and musicologist Christopher
Palmer; viz, Impressionism In Music. The studies are exegetic
and deal specifically with the aesthetic of Impressionism and
Symbolism. Quite useful for those readers interested in this
sort of thing.
Wayne Jonas Bealer
Plato, in The Republic, talks about how the musical modes influence
behavior...and much of these ideas were picked up and used by the catholic
church.
Schopenhauer, of course, greatly influenced Wagner and others.
The best place to start would be to look up philosophers names in the Grove
Encyclopedia — you can even do it online, I think — and track down the
references they supply.
CONSTANTIN MARCOU <conm...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<34156...@earthlink.net>...
> Samuel Vriezen wrote:
> >
> > Hello everyone.
> >
> > I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
> > and trying to write a paper for my music history class. Since I have
> > an interest in philosophy I thought why not write a paper on the
> > relationships that have existed between philosophy and music?
> > What I would like to do is pick out a few epochs, or a few prominent
Gary Metzendorf
>Samuel Vriezen wrote:
>>
>> Hello everyone.
>>
>> I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
>> and trying to write a paper for my music history class. Since I have
>> an interest in philosophy I thought why not write a paper on the
>> teacher agreed to my plan, provided that it would contain enough of
>> music history and not turn into a systematic acount of aesthetics. The
>> paper would not have to be too technical or scientific.
>>
>> figures such as philosophers with clear musical interests
>> (Schopenhauer or Nietzsche or Adorno), or examine the influences of
>> philosphy on composers throughout the ages. I would like to include
>> chapters on the Greeks and on Medieval music as well on contemporary
>> issues and figures.
>>
>> etc? Any help is welcome. Please post responses or email me directly.
>> Thank you for your attention.
>>
>> Samuel Vriezen
>> sqv @ xs4all . nl
Why not a broader work, that attempts to explain the human minds propensity
towards patterns, which results in musical forms and philsophic structures? Is
life not a dynamic, rather than static endevour? Yet without rests, music would
have no dynamic and so life.
Gary Metzendorf
Paul Bossi
In Powells Burnham Park store in Chicago there is a book called approximately -
Philosophy on the Keyboard -- "Philosophy on 88" - or something like that - I will
check it out nexrt time I'm there, but it seemed intriguing. Perhaps somebody else
knows the book I'm referring to.
Jeannine
Try looking at the following:
Confucius: "Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without,".
He goes on to construct an entire set of rules about what sort of music ought to be
used when, to what effect, and why. (He's a little long-winded and doctrinnaire, but
you can count on him to have a LOT to say. You can also count on the existence of
endless secondary sources discussing and enlarging his views.) It would, of course, be
based on a different tonal system..but that might actually be interesting for you.
I seem to recall Aristophanes having something to say on the subject. And Aristotle is
a good bet as well. As for the Medievals, I would look at Thomas Aquinas (who can
reliably be counted on to express a completely different opinion than Aristotle, then
to go on and explain why this is really Aristotle's opinion) and at Origen.
Happy Hunting!
Jeannine
mar...@ibm.net
Paul Cotton
s...@xs4all.nl (Samuel Vriezen) wrote:
>Hello everyone.
>
>I am a student of composition at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague
>and trying to write a paper for my music history class. Since I have
>an interest in philosophy I thought why not write a paper on the
>relationships that have existed between philosophy and music?
....
Years ago I read "Autobiography of a Yogi," by Somethingkrishna
Raminanda (can't remember his exact first name and don't have the book
anymore). He said (paraphrasing) that Bach's music was the closest
thing in western music to Hindu philosophy. He didn't explain exactly
what he meant, but that doesn't stop me from imagining. Bach has an
architectural balance which reminds me of balance of opposite forces.
A recurrence of ideas as if in various incarnations. A musical
representation of patterns manifesting underlying (mathematical,
spiritual) principles. Patterns within patterns suggesting mandala
and meditation. See also my post on the music-and-philosophy thread
on this forum for other ponderings.
---------------
Paul Cotton
Please remove NOSPAM from my address to email