Musical Meaning and Expression - Brossura

Davies, Stephen

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0801481511 ISBN 13: 9780801481512

Casa editrice: Cornell Univ Pr, 1994

Riassunto

We talk not only of enjoying music, but of understanding it. Music is often taken to have expressive import-and in that sense to have meaning. But what does music mean, and how does it mean? Stephen Davies addresses these questions in this sophisticated and knowledgeable overview of current theories in the philosophy of music. Reviewing and criticizing the aesthetic positions of recent years, he offers a spirited explanation of his own position. Davies considers and rejects in turn the positions that music describes (like language), or depicts (like pictures), or symbolizes (in a distinctive fashion) emotions. Similarly, he resists the idea that music's expressiveness is to be explained solely as the composer's self-expression, or in terms of its power to evoke a response from the audience. Music's ability to describe emotions, he believes, is located within the music itself; it presents the aural appearance of what he calls emotion characteristics. The expressive power of music awakens emotions in the listener, and music is valued for this power although the responses are sometimes ones of sadness. Davies shows that appreciation and understanding may require more than recognition of and reaction to music's expressive character, but need not depend on formal musicological training.

Su questo libro

Product Description:

We talk not only of enjoying music, but of understanding it. Music is often taken to have expressive import--and in that sense to have meaning. But what does music mean, and how does it mean?Stephen Davies addresses these questions in this sophisticated and knowledgeable overview of current theories in the philosophy of music. Reviewing and criticizing the aesthetic positions of recent years, he offers a spirited explanation of his own position.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Cornell Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0801481511
• ISBN 13: 9780801481512
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 400