Music to Hear on Here: Group 2

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Group 2 - Sang it Gurrrrl.

Listening to music is inherently subjective. Adjectives, however, add another level of subjectivity. By eliminating the adjective and instead identifying elements of the grain, the act of listening remains an individual experience but becomes less subjective in that one looks to factual and physical aspects of the song that elicit pleasure.

"The 'grain' is the body in the singing voice, in the writing hand, in the performing limb. If I perceive the 'grain' of this music and if i attribute this 'grain' a theoretical value (this is the assumption of the of the text in the work), I cannot help making a new scheme of evaluation for myself, individual no doubt, since I am determined to listen to my relation to the body of someone who is singing or playing and since the relation is an erotic one, but not at all 'subjective' (it is not the psychological 'subject' in me who listens; the enjoyment that subject seeks is not going to reinforce him- to express him- but on the contrary will destroy him)" (276). -The Grain of the Voice

Mariah's structurally loose interpretation of the National Anthem using rubato is an example of Barthes' idea of the geno-song and pronunciation over articulation. The liberty she takes with this song is representational of her physicality, the imperfections and deviations from the notated song using rubato and phrasing are indicative of the grain of the voice.

Jessica, Grant, Ian, PFunk

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Course Description

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." Martin Mull (or Elvis Costello)

Thinking about the meaning and value, intellectual, affective and neurological experiences, and aesthetics of music has occupied an important position in modern and contemporary philosophical writings. Central to the philosophy of music is a questioning of what music is insofar as it is an art form and practice, akin to but different from other arts, such as drama, literature, painting, sculpture, to name but a few examples. Claims have been made, in fact, that music’s effect, when performed and listened to, surpasses those of the other arts because of its abstact purity, of its universality, and of its singular capacity to express, represent and incite emotions. This course will explore such issues in 19th-20th century philosophy. We will begin with introductory readings of what composes the field and discipline of the philosophy of music. We will read—among other philosophers, novelists, critics and musicologists—Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Barthes and Adorno’s writings on music. Finally, we will have the occasion to read about and listen to specific musicians, both high and low, and explore the contexts of their work, concentrating on the historical and political dimensions of the practice, performance and art of making music.