Conceptual analysis of music

[kmik]

Music is probably the most abstract form of art, and as such, it is usually analyzed from a technical perspective and rarely from a conceptual one. Music students learn a lot about tempos, techniques, influences, notes, instruments and such but are not concerned with what music is about as an art form - what ideas and emotions it evokes and how does it do that.

Even when music is analyzed conceptually it is nowhere near as extensive as analysis of literary works. A song about death could end abruptly to symbolize, well, how easily and abruptly we could die; or a song about love could slowly fade away, because love is eternal. If I a not mistaken, Beethoven's 5th is concerned with destiny which is a repeated motif, and the attempts to escape it (variations on said motif) before finally embracing it. But that's all, and it's pretty surface level in comparison to the long passages one could write about a novel.

It is notable that music still evokes strong emotions even if the listener doesn't understand what it really is about. For example, ersonally, I really like Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra, but even having listened to it many times I still can't figure out what it has to do with the work that inspired it (although I am admittedly not really familiar even with the latter )

So,
1. Why is that?
2. Where is it possible to read an artistic take on any musical work? Reviews on the internet almost always simply describe the music, and those which don't talk about ideas without explaining how they are expressed.

PS - sorry for confused post

 

[Black Core]

I believe that music has a diffrent meaning to everyone. Hence the reason everyone likes their own genre of music. Therefor we cannot make a statement that the music gives a certain emotion. The artist might have tried to put a certain emotion in it but it won't be the same to everyone since we all interpret it in a diffrent way. Most of the times we try to personolise it to our own life, see where it fits in our own life.
So I must say that reviews you read somewhere can't possibly deal with the emotions in the music since it's not really relevant to the public opinion. The music gives everyone a diffrent feeling. That's why they describe the music and categorise it. People who read it will know the categorie and already know which feeling it will give em.

 

[Scourge of God]

Music is probably the most abstract form of art, and as such, it is usually analyzed from a technical perspective and rarely from a conceptual one. Music students learn a lot about tempos, techniques, influences, notes, instruments and such but are not concerned with what music is about as an art form - what ideas and emotions it evokes and how does it do that.

Music is a performing art: it is, at its core, an experiential form with a built in mechanism for reproduction. Not surprisingly, much of the analytical language of music is concerned with formal technique and the process of reproducing a work in performance. This tendency is reinforced by the history of the language of music criticism, which emerged originally as a way of talking about classical pieces performed live - often by interpreters rather than by composers themselves.

Even when music is analyzed conceptually it is nowhere near as extensive as analysis of literary works.

As mentioned, some of this reflects the fact that the language of music criticism developed as a language of performance criticism, and, as such, is intimately concerned with the technical nuances of performance. Again, as I've already mentioned, formal musical criticism was developed as a way of engaging with symphonic performances, often of works from the repertoire rather than new pieces. An emphasis on technical aspects of interpretation was almost inevitable. You see a similar thrust in theater criticism, which isn't nearly as conceptually based as dramatic literary criticism (the reasons are fairly similar).

 

[Blowtus]

I would love the same understanding kmik
I am forever asking my musically schooled girlfriend to tell me why certain songs sound / feel the way they do - and it becomes very clear that she can only answer as to their technical nature. The atmosphere created in the music is probably the thing that strikes me most strongly. If you want to start writing 'artistic' takes on music, I'll start reading
Why does Dark Tranquillity conjure images of a desolate future for me? What is it about Amon Amarth that so cleanses my soul after a night out on the town? I'm not even sure questions of this ilk benefit from answers to be honest...