Philosophy of Music

An introduction to diverse philosophical perspectives on the nature and value of music, ranging from the ancient Greeks to idealism to phenomenology to contemporary socio-cultural critiques. Designed to introduce the serious music student with no philosophical background to the vitality of music philosophical discourse, it explores a broad range of music philosophical terrain, showing the philsophers' reasons for holding what can seem to the non-philosopher like extraordinarily bizarre notions, while at the same time pointing out the philosophical shortcomings of what musicians often take for common-sense musical truths.

First published in 1959, this original study argues that the main characteristic of music is that it expresses and evokes emotion, and that all composers whose music has a tonal basis have used the same, or closely similar, melodic phrases, harmonies, and rhythms to affect the listener in the same ways. He supports this view with hundreds of musical examples, ranging from plainsong to Stravinsky, and contends that music is a language in the specific sense that we can identify idioms and draw up a list of meanings. The book's final section analyzes two symphonies, Mozart's Fortieth and Vaughan Williams's Sixth, to explore the nature of musical inspiration and the process whereby the notes actually convey emotion from composer to listener.

What do Pythagoras, Plato, Newton, and Wittgenstein have in common with Jack and the Beanstalk, David and Goliath, the Hare and the Tortoise, and Formula 1 auto racing? Hearing is the clue, and musical science the answer. In his revolutionary sequel to The Concept of Music (OUP, 1990), Robin Maconie uncovers the hidden role of musical acoustics in the formulation of key concepts of science and philosophy from ancient Greece to modern times.

What is musical meaning? Where does it reside and how can it be known? How do music and philosophy relate? Concentrating on the music, politics and philosophy of Richard Wagner, Lydia Goehr addresses these classic questions.

What is music? Does music deserve a place in general education? If so why? Music Matters ,develops new answers to these questions through a wide-ranging examination of Music as a diverse human practice. The result is a ground-breaking philosophy of music education that provides critically reasoned perspectives on the nature and significance of performing, listening, musicianship, multiculturalism, creativity, consciousness, curriculum development and more. Music Matters is exceptional for the attention it pays to many aspects of music and education that past music education philosophy either misses of ignores altogether. Following an incisive critique of conventional thinking, Elliot develops a multidimensional concept of music that explains why music-making and listening are unique forms of thinking and unique forms of the most important kinds of knowing human beings can achieve. In a richly detailed narrative that examines a wealth of recent philosophical foundation allows teachers to affirm to themselves, and others, that music deserves a central place in the education of all people. Among many working ideas of this new philosophy is a distinctive concept of "curriculum-as-practicum" that explains how music educators can fulfil their educational mandate. Through intended first as a text for pre-service and in-service music teachers, Music Matters is for anyone who takes a serious interest in music and music education.

Like literature and art, music has "works". But not every piece of music is called a work, and not every musical performance is made up of works. The complexities of this situation are explored in these essays, which examine a broad swathe of western music. From plainsong to the symphony, from Duke Ellington to the Beatles, this is at root an investigation into how our minds parcel up the music that we create and hear.

PART I: Philosophical Perspectives 1. Emotion and Meaning in Music, L.B. Meyer 2. Music and Language: Parallels and Contrasts, R. Aiello 3. Perception: A Perspective from Music Theory, N. Cook PART II: Developmental Perspectives 4. Songsinging by Young and Old: A Developmental Approach to Music, L. Davidson 5. Coming to Hear in a New Way, J. Bamberger 6. Music Performance: Expression and Development of Excellence, J.A. Sloboda PART III: The Perception of Melody, Tonality, Rhythm and Timing 7. Melodic Contour in Hearing and Remembering Melodies, W.J. Dowling 8. Describing the Mental Representation of Tonality in Music, D. Beutler and H. Brown 9. Tonality and Expectation, J.J. Bharucha 10. Perception, Production, and Imitation of Time Ratios by Skilled Musicians, S. Sternberg and R.L. Knoll PART IV: The Perception of Musical Compositions 11. The Interpretive Component in Musical Performance, L.H. Shaffer and N.P. Todd 12. Can Listening to Music be Experimentally Studied?, R. Aiello