In and Out of the Birdcage:Transforming music to mousikê
...Also, current musicology says that social, cultural aspects of the time are well reflected in his music. But, isn’t it possible that the reason his music became so popular is because people could identify with it. I know when I hear a song on the radio my first thoughts aren’t what social and cultural connotations does it have. I’m not dissecting it to see if it is formulaically the same as other music that’s out there. I’m paying attention to how the music makes me feel, the message it is trying to convey, the art of the piece. What’s more, if Schubert wrote that many songs, there has to be a more significant detail about his music that made it so popular. “Music is a cumulative art. It is a chain of sounds through time, each sound taking its meaning from those that have gone before. It is not the are for amnesiacs.”—William Mayer. This statement is false because, somewhere along the way, this idea of art in music has been lost. As Dr. Parsons put it, “We are suffering from a kind of musical amnesia.” One question that might arise is how one could find factual proof of this human connection in music. When looking at the words of the songs in Dr. Parsons presentation, it is obvious, but what about the music itself? Dr. Parsons actually uses the structure of the pieces to show the aesthetic qualities that reflect the human condition. He used such subtle details of Johann Friedrich Reichardt’s songs as contrasting cadences between the voice and music as in Aus Euphrosyne, and the High G that sticks out periodically in Vergnüget mich. He says that these are examples of “complexities” that are up against a relatively simple background, which is representative of the struggle between nature and civilization (the affected). Nature is the “complexity,” which is freedom and beauty, and “the affected” is the simple background that contains and domesticates the “complexities.” Thus the syncopation of cadences and the high G notes are examples of beauty that the music has captured and enjoyed by all who listen to the songs, like a piece of art. Although structure and aesthetic value are equally important to keep in mind when listening to a song or a piece of music, if I had to say that one was better than the other, in light of the presentation, I would have to say structure. The reason for this is because I now realize that the formal and aesthetic properties of music history can both be learned through the analysis of structure as well as the human qualities that have been missing from much of the current music scholarship that is out there now. Dr. Parsons has definitely opened a Pandora’s box when it comes to current musicology. It is a new form of music scholarship that would be best described as mousikê history. The fact that this connection between 18th century German music and this idea of nature versus the affected has, until recently not been made, is surprising. It is surprising because this ideology can be seen in all art forms of the 18th century, and not just in Germany either. The social upheavals of the Enlightenment period created a lot of problems in everyday life. Governments were overthrown and disease, hunger, and poverty were common, just to name a few. I would think that people with their new freedom of expression would show their desire to escape to something better like nature for instance. Also, what better way to relate this desire than through such forms of human expression as song, music, dance, performance, poetry, art, and literature? Lamartine, one of the first romantic French poets of the late 18th century and early 19th century, has an interesting quote that shows the importance of nature and the affected in art of the time period. « Je suis le premier qui ai donné à ce qu’on nommait la Muse, au lieu d’une lyre de sept cordes de convention, les fibres même du cœur de l’homme, touchées et émues par les innombrables frissons de l’âme et de la nature. » Loosely translated this means, “I am the first to give to this that one has named the Muse (romantic poetry), a well-tuned, seven-string lyre, the strings of which are like that of the heart of man, which is strummed and imitates the innumerable vibrations of the soul and nature.” The idea of escaping to nature is prevalent in romantic poetry, and Lamartine’s above statement shows how big an impact nature was on people of the 18th century. If people keep this idea of human aspects of music in mind when learning new pieces and works, they will be able to understand them with a greater appreciation and love. This will even affect how the music is performed. Being able to relate to a piece on a more intimate level and understanding the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the artist that wrote it, will allow a person to stress those c...