Kyra Freedman

Aesthetics
Marjorie Hall
Term Paper
The Aesthetics of Music
Music has two definitions: Vocal or instrumental sounds combined in a
way to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion; the
written or printed signs representing vocal or instrument sound1 The former
is what people usually think of when they hear the term music, emotion
expressed through voice or instruments; music as an art form. The latter
definition is the technical definition; how music is written and the
components of music. The technicalities of music and its composition are
what allow music to last through the ages. Music is valued as an art form,
however it is not talked about as much as fine art or handicrafts. How can
we define music as one of the fine arts?
Music today and music from the past are very different. In the past,
music was mainly minstrels, orchestras, and was used as entertainment for
the upper class. Today, music is widespread full of different genres and
levels of intricacies. Absolute music is music that is not explicitly about
anything

Music alone, sometimes called absolute music (as opposed to

music with words- songs, arias, chorales and so on), is indisputably one of
1

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House,

Inc.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ (accessed: December 9, 2014)
2
Chua, Daniel Absolute Music and the Construction of Meaning (Cambridge
University Press, 1999

the arts, and often regarded as art in its purest form

Both definitions of

music here are about absolute music. Both contain music in its pure form,
music without words or intent. I wish to look at the aesthetics of music and
compare them to the aesthetics that relate to art. By comparing the two I
will be able to classify music as a form of art, if not a fine art.
Collingwood is a theorist that combines art and emotion. He believes
tat there is a process an artist goes through when creating a piece of art.
There is an emotion present in the artist, the artist reflects, the artist creates
the artwork, the audience looks at the artwork and feels the same emotion.
There is a cycle, which his theory revolves around, of constant reflection and
influence on emotions and how they affect the audience and the creator.

Music, according to Graham and one of the definitions given above, is an

emotional release.

There is an emotion that inspires the artist, while writing

out the technical notation the composer is allowed to reflect and re-write,
then the music is created through practice, and finally the music is listened
to and the emotions are finally able to be released into the audience for the
audiences own reflection. Grahams and Collingwoods theory match up here.
They both talk about the emotional release when it comes to certain art
forms, music especially in Grahams chapter.
The Requiem by Mozart is a full religious mass that is composed of
many different pieces. When it is listened to in succession, there are so

Graham, Gordon. Philosophy of the Arts (New York:Routledge:2005) p 79

D. Boersma, Philosophy of art (boulder CO, 2013) on Collingwood excerpt
from G. Collingwood, Principles of Art (Oxford, 1938)
4

many emotions that run through the mind. There was a process that went
through Mozart when he was creating this piece, he was commissioned for
the piece, but there must have been an emotional trigger to inspire him. The
emotional trigger would relate back to Collingwoods theory on the emotional
process that happens for an artist. Mozart, as a composer an an artist, would
find something emotionally triggering, he would then reflect on it, and then
compose the music. The swells in the orchestral and vocal pieces, the
dissonance in certain areas of the mass shows that there was a change in
emotions. When you listen to the mass as a whole, from beginning to end,
you feel like youve gone through a change.
While Collingwood focuses on the emotional process of art, Dewey
talks about the experience, which aligns itself to the Requiem. Dewey talks
about the same process as Collingwood, only from the viewers perspective,
how the viewers emotional veil is lifted when experiencing a piece of art
because the experience clarifies. In the case of music, the audience would be
those who are listening.5 When listening to the Requiem there are many
personal experiences that happen. I feel happy, sad; I am overwhelmed, I
have cried while listening to the Requiem. There was an emotional
transference between myself and the composer, which allows the requiem to
be classified as Art according to Dewey and Collingwood.
The requiem is not considered absolute music, however. The requiem
consists of voices and instruments, and there was an intended purpose for
5

Boersma, D. Philosophy of art (Boulder CO, 2013) on Dewey from J. Dewey

Art as Experience (New York 1934)

the mass. While it is classified as art, it is not absolute music. An example

of absolute music is Johannes Brahms symphony no.3

Brahm never wrote

an opera or a symphonic poem, his music does not intend to create an image
or a story when played. It was written simply for musical purposes.
Collingwood and Dewey would not consider absolute music as art.
Absolute music has half of the equation. Absolute music has the process of
writing music and being inspired, but it is not supposed to have an end
result, the audience is not supposed to feel any different or have an emotion
clarified after listening to it. The emotion that is felt comes from music that
has a purpose. Music that is written for a mass that is commissioned for a
person. Absolute music does not have an end purpose so therefore it does
not present an emotional transformation.
Immanuel Kant looks at music from a technical standpoint, the notation
and how mathematical forms can be applied to music. The mathematical
form alone belongs the delight of the play of sensations which is music; and
that mathematical form is the universally valid condition of the beauty of
music and the factor which alone enables one to claim a right to anticipate
the agreement of every man

Herbert Schuller takes Kants theory of art and

redefines it with accordance to music. Therefore music is an art to the

degree that it is a production through freedom 8One of the main points of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-HcTI8zuBo
Schueller, H. Immanuel Kant and the Aesthetics of music The Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/425860.pdf?
&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true p 6-9
8
Schueller, H. Immanuel Kant and the aesthetics of music
7

Kants theory of art is that there is a freedom. There is no imitation; there is

no other inspiration other than imagination and genius. Art is not limited by
reality; the mind is able to create anything that it can, and that is technically
what genius is. The composers have genius and are able to create works of
music that are not imitations of other works.
When genius is involved, there imitation is not allowed, however
inspiration is. The artist is allowed inspiration of someone elses work, but
they are not allowed to imitate. The application of the art is the true form of
genius; the application cannot be an imitation.9 Absolute music, according to
Kant, would be considered art. Absolute art has no end result; it is made for
makings sake. It does not wish to sway anyone or create a story when being
played. The melodies, harmonies, and mechanical pieces are created solely
in the mind of the artist. Kant mentions that inspiration is different from
intimation. Brahm had a deep respect for Beethoven. Brahms Symphony no
1 resembles Beethovens Symphony no 5 as they both start out in C minor
and slowly work their way into C major.10 Brahms did not imitate Beethoven.
According to Kant the artists ideas arouse similar ideas I his

11

apprentice if

nature has provided the latter with a similar proportion in his mental powers
Brahms released his first symphony after Beethoven released his fifth. His

Korsmeyer, Carolyn. Aesthetics: the Big Questions (Blackwell: 1998) p 302

Braham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3a4v1TWUNo Beethoven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z4KK7RWjmk
11
Korsmeyer, Aesthetics the Big questions 302
10

intention was to honor Beethoven, and by using similar movements in the

music and similar structure and keys, the first symphony was created.

12

Graham also talks about the Beethovens Fifth Symphony. One of the
most striking is complexity. A major composition such as Beethovens fifth
symphony has a great deal more to it than a simple melody like
Greensleeves. This difference in complexity is of considerable importance
in assessing the merits of a piece of music13 One of Grahams reasonings for
music having an aesthetic quality is because of the complexity. The
complexity of music can be related to the complexity of art. A complex
symphony like the fifth symphony of Beethoven can be compared to Sistine
Chapel, while Greensleeves can be compared to a childs painting. 14
Greensleeves). Graham does mention the counterpoint that complex does
not always mean pleasant to listen too, complex melodies often require more
thought in order to process them while simple melodies can be enjoyed
easily

15

One thing that has not been explored yet is music as itself, as sound.
When we listen to doorbells, speech, or news, we are listening for a purpose.
Music presents us with occasions for pure listening

16

we are able to listen to

the sounds, the melodies, harmonies, dissonance, and take their beauty at
face value. We are also able to listen past the music into the emotions that

12
13
14
15
16

http://www.music.pomona.edu/orchestra/bra_1.htm)
Graham, Philosophy of Art 77
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ItNxpwChE
Graham 78
Graham 95

are grabbing at the lyrics and harmonies. When listening to just the music
alone there is no connection between the musical structure and language.
The structure is not the vehicle of meaning17 However, you are still able to
music because of the chords and the music itself. Absolute music would lend
itself to pure listening and the emotion of the music itself. Since absolute
music does not have any words you are able to purely listen to the chords,
harmonies, strings, dissonance, and vibrato of the instruments.
When listening to Brahms symphony no 3, we are able to hear and feel
the swells, dissonance, the drops, and the vibrato. One can hear the parts of
the symphony and feel the music in its purest form. We can try to look for
meaning of the symphony based off of the keys and tonal quality of the
music, however we are unable to find a true meaning because there is no
explicit meaning, like there is when there are lyrics or a specific purpose for
the piece. It is human nature to try and look for meaning, even if there isnt
one. Given his characterization of music as a pure abstraction, it is not
surprising that Scruton rejects the possibility that music can be
representational Scruton does allow that it may suggest them, as, for
example, when a fanfare on the horns suggest the hung18
However, nothing is lost if we do not understand the meaning. Scruton
says that Nothing much, or at least nothing musical, would be lost by the
listener who though that Richard Strausss Don Quixote was about the life of

17

Scruton, Roger The Aesthetics of Music (Clarendon Press. 1997) 212

Bicknell, Janette Scruton on Understanding Music
http://www.philosophyofmusic.org/Scruton_Understanding_Music.pdf 134-5
18

the dog. It is possible to understand a piece of music as music without

grasping its representational content

19

( In relationship to pure listening

brought forth by Graham, Scruton also talks about silent listening. Our
whole body is being absorbed by the movement of the music, and moves
with it, compelled by incipient gestures of imitation

20

Silent and pure listening focues on the sound of the music. When we
add lyrics, the pure listening goes away because we start to focus on the
lyrics, however the silent listening stays. We are able to feel the vibrations
of someones voice wash over us as we listen to a song and that can deepen
the piece as a whole. The Ave Maria is a great example.

21

It has a sections

where it is just instruments and we are able to let those sounds wash over
us, while the lyrics and the sound of the human voice adds depth. The Ave
Maria also is a great example of Graham talking about a simple melody being
easy to listen to. The piano playing in the background is simple, the strings
and wind instruments also have simple parts that flow together. The vocal
melody is more complicated with runs and note patterns. However, putting
the two together allows the whole piece to become an experience that
encompasses everything a work of art should.
Music is an experience. It is transference of emotion from the
composer to the audience; it is also a combination of sounds that are

19

Scruton, Aesthetics of Music 129-138

Scurton, 356
21
Josh Groban Ave Maria https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Cgyy8u3zcf8
20

pleasing with no meaning at all. We can compare music to works of art

because they have similar attributes. I am able to look at a piece of art and
appreciate the brush strokes and the technique that went into painting it,
however I do not have to understand what the subject matter is. The same
goes for music. We are able to look at the sounds of the instruments, voices,
and the technical notation and appreciate them at face value, while also
appreciating the deeper meaning of the tonal quality, keys, and lyrics.
Music can be classified as art as well as containing as many facets and sub
genres of styles just like the art in the MFA. Music is the Museum, the songs
are the artwork.