Music to Hear on Here: Alone- Ben Harper: Music, Voice, Language

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Alone- Ben Harper: Music, Voice, Language

"Articulation, he used to say, is the simulacrum and the enemy of pronunciation.. [articulation] seeks to give each consonant the same phonic intensity, whereas in a musical text a consonant is never the same: each syllable must be set in the general meaning of the phrase" (282). and also "Artliculation, in effect, functions abusively as a pretense of meaning.. it involves the singer in a highly ideological art of expressivity- or, to be even more precise, of dramatization: the melodic line is broken into fragments of meaning, into semantic sighs, into effect of hysteria" (283)

I am not sure whether Ben Harper's song "Alone" would fall under pronunciation or articulation. I would like to say that he pronounces, more than he articulates. Clearly, each consonant is not given the same phonic intensity- His voice expresses a whole different range of intensities. Fall and rising, twirling, etc. However, I would say his rendition is very dramatized and this imparts meaning on the song. His voice embodies the sadness/darkness he feels of being alone. So, I am at odds with whether or not this is pronunciation or articulation.

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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.