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Drawing on the author's four decades of experience as a concert oboist, this open access book studies a number of foundational issues in the philosophy of music, such as musical meaning and expression, musical ontology and the existence of the musical work, the relation between music and language, and the phenomenology of music. The book surveys the development of Western classical music from the Baroque era through to the 20th century, both from the perspective of contemporary Lithuanian philosophers such as Girnius, Maceina, Sliogeris, and Jackunas, and 20th century European philosophy. In addition to discussing key questions in the philosophy of music, the book also analyses technical musical terms such as articulation, phrasing, and rhythm.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. The Origin of Music and Its Specific Characteristics (the Historical-Ontological Aspect).- 3. Music - a Part of Spiritual Culture.- 4. The Fundamental Elements of Musical Expression.- 5. Some Principles of Baroque Aesthetics which are Important for Musical Expression.- 6. Voice and Sound.- 7. Music and Language.- 8. Music and Time.- 9. Musical Rhythm.- 10. Musical Articulation.- 11. Musical Agogics.- 12. Musical Phrasing.- 13. Sign and Expression.- 14. The Foreground and Background (Inner) Dimensions (Forms) of a Musical Work.- 15. The Text and the Work.- 16. Interpretation (the Main Form of the Manifestation of Music).- 17. The Transcendental Quality of a Musical Work.- 17. The Concept of Creativity (and its Importance for Musical Expression).- 18. Instrumentalising Creativity - Depriving Musical Expression of Meaning.- 19. The Logic of Music.- 20. A Philosophical Approach to Musical Expression: Necessity or Possibility.- 21. Significance and Meaning (the Given and the Goal).- 23. Musical Thinking.- 24. Arnold chönberg on Musical Thought.- 25. Anton Webern on the "Saying" of Music.- 26. Ernest Ansermet on Music and its Performance.- 27. The Phenomenological Approach to Musical Expression. 28. Conclusion.
