When we discuss art in a casual setting, don't we tend to be fixated on how that piece makes us feel?
Think about it. You may hear a sad song and say, "Oh I can't listen to this song without crying!" Or you may look at a visual piece such as a painting and try to decipher whether the shades depict a joyous, depressing, or ominous scene. No matter what type of art we're dealing with, it seems like the popular view is to gravitate towards the emotions that the work represents or arouses within us.
I'm certainly guilty of being touched on an emotional level by art. In fact, that was my go-to way of looking at the creative aspects in my life up until my senior year of high school. I had taken an AP studio art class that year and quickly found myself in a position where I disregarded my feelings towards another person's artwork, instead, strictly focusing on the content of the piece itself. What worked and what could be fixed? Was the shading realistic and blended well enough? Did the composition use appropriate space? Those were just some of the questions I had to ask myself when taking part in a critique every week. I got used to looking at the content of all kinds of visual art. From paintings and drawings, to literary works and movies as well. However, I never really considered looking at music that way until just recently.
The "Hanslickian" perspective. That's what has gotten wedged into my brain for the last few weeks. I knew that taking a Philosophy of Music course would be interesting, but I never expected it to change my way of listening to my favorite music so much in such a short amount of time. Eduard Hanslick wrote a book in the late 19th-century arguing against what he referred to as "the feeling theory". To him, people were taking the wrong approach in viewing the aesthetics of music. It's obvious that music isn't a visual art so it may seem hard to relate it to anything other than the feelings it seems to portray. What is so interesting about Hanslick is that he doesn't believe that any type of music- whether vocal or instrumental- can represent feelings.
That type of thinking seemed a bit foreign to me at first. As I mentioned, it's difficult to relate music to things that we may visually see, like a rainstorm or flying birds. It is possible though, which is exactly what Hanslick wanted us to realize. We can examine the content of music through its tone, rhythm, pitch, and tempo. Just like we view visual art with our eyes, we can appreciate music through our sense of hearing. I haven't been able to listen to music the same way as I used to. When I listen to vocal music, I try and block out the words. It may seem to defeat the purpose, but it's amazing to be able to recognize everything else that goes into those types of songs other than the lyrics. Doing so also makes me realize how horribly written some lyrics are. Even if they seem to work in the song, it's only with the help of the musical sounds in the background. I've appreciated instrumental music for years too but even that is something that I'm viewing in a new light.
This new perspective is something that I wouldn't have gotten without this class. I blame Hanslick's views and my professor's way of allowing all of this to make so much sense to me now. It's a brilliant and awe-inspiring way to look at music. Of course, this isn't the only solution to evaluating the beauty in art, though it is an interesting outlook to consider. Next time you listen to your favorite song on the radio, try to block out the words and all of your feelings associated with that song. Just listen to the musical content itself. I know, it'll be tough to do. I promise, if you do it, you'll get to witness something that you may have been missing out on.
