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M U Z I K O L O Š K I Z B O R N I K • M U S I C O L O G I C A L A N N U A L L I I / 1
Matjaž Barbo
Meaning in Music and Music in Meaning
Matjaž Barbo. Pomen v glasbi in glasba v pomenu. [Meaning in Music and Music in Meaning.] Razprave FF. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2015. 138 pgs. € 14.90. ISBN: 9789612377748.
Although it is not expressed in the title, this new book by professor Matjaž Barbo deals with the aesthetics of music; its chapters discuss classical topics of musical aesthetics, emphasizing to some extent issues that have dominated recent philosophical discourse on music. There is a certain logic in the succession of the subjects discussed: The first chapter focuses on the phenomenon of the musical event (concert performance, radio broadcast, internet publication etc.) in the modern globally oriented world. The sec- ond concentrates on the acoustic component of the musical event, i.e. on music itself.
The music (as acoustic event) no doubt exists, yet can be interpreted and experienced in an array of different ways, which are discussed in the third chapter of the book. The fourth chapter could be understood as an attempt to assess the elusive contents of mu- sic against the background of something more solid and definite, and the last leads up to a synthesis that might be seen as a counterbalance to what we read at the beginning of the book.
Upon closing the last page, the reader might be somehow bewildered by the multi- tude of concepts, thoughts, conjectures, allusions, and not quite sure as to the objective of the book. Let us take a closer look at its chapters. The first disputes the illusion that in a musical event the communication proceeds just in a one-way direction from the per- former to the listener, and independently of other circumstances. The author shows that there is a host of factors that influence a participant’s experience: the reputation of the artist, their appearance, the price of the ticket, the atmosphere in the concert hall, the location of the listener’s seat, etc. Factors of this kind proceed into the infinite (especially taking into account that any one of them is in turn dependent on a similarly large array of factors), and among them music nearly loses its relevance. Two ideas, expressed implicitly, may be discerned in the discussion of the musical event: (i) The aspect from which the musical event is analysed does not allow differentiation among various genres of music; the observations expressed are obviously equally valid for a performance of a Beethoven symphony and for a concert of a popular group. (ii) The reader might ask, who is the logical subject of all the happenings described, who are the people that are subject to all the mentioned (and unmentioned) influences? The obvious answer is that they affect everybody without exception. If one further asks what is the role or function of the participants (listeners) of a musical event, it becomes
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M . B A R B O • P O M E N V G L A S B I I N G L A S B A V P O M E N U clear that they do not have any will or intention; they are just passive and powerless objects that the numerous influences work upon. In the first chapter there is no room for an active listener, for somebody with a specific will or aspiration (albeit following the performance as a motionless listener).
The second chapter is dedicated to music as a central point around which the web of factors, described in the first chapter, is being woven. The chapter is a kind of inter- pretation of the history of music from the viewpoint of the concept of musical work.
It shows how in history, music gradually began to be understood and practiced in terms of clearly defined and fixed (notated) musical works, i.e. compositions. In the 20th century the notion of music as musical works began to lose its absolute credibility.
But quite irrespective of its ontological status, music gradually assumed the role of merchandise that can be traded and brings profit. From this observation the author develops the idea that in the contemporary world music follows the laws of capital and conforms to the corresponding ideologies. The passive listeners from the first chapter are thus subject to the laws of capital, which consequently control and direct their aesthetic experience.
Does the author show any exit from this pessimistic picture of the modern world?
Maybe. Let us continue investigating the contents of the book. The third chapter dis- cusses musical interpretation, i.e. the interpretation of musical works (the subject of the second chapter). It gives an overview of various theories concerning the under- standing of music, and stresses that nowadays the more and more clearly pronounced opinion exists that the history of music cannot be limited to the examination of fixed (notated) musical works but must encompass also the history of musical criticism and the history of musical performance. The author appears to believe that through various musical interpretations (performances) the meaning of a musical work is gradually being revealed. This would imply that interpretations of a musical work, different as they might be, must have been somehow present already in the composer’s concep- tion of the work, and that it is through various interpretations that the true contents of a musical work may be discovered. (This is one of the reasons why the history of music must encompass interpretation as well.) The author neatly and persuasively describes an inspired conductor who, supported tacitly by his audience, spontaneously creates an original new interpretation, producing thus an artistically persuasive musical event.
(The listeners of this musical event are miles away from the passive objects described in the first chapter.)
As can be seen from the title mentioning the infinite, the fourth chapter attempts to assess music against the background of something final and ultimate. In this sense it firstly describes how in a certain historic period music assumed the role of religion as something that evokes the presence of transcendence. In searching for connections between music and transcendence the author shows due caution: The reflection on music, variegated and controversial as it is, “may be” a sign that in music there is some- thing that transcends the limits of human apprehension.
If one is allowed to regard the last paragraph of the last chapter as a conclusion to the book – the final point that the whole discourse led to – it may be understood as an adjustment of the pessimistic picture described in the first chapter. The author
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M U Z I K O L O Š K I Z B O R N I K • M U S I C O L O G I C A L A N N U A L L I I / 1 assumes a moderate and secure median position: It is true that any musical event is made up of a multitude of various factors (described in the first chapter) which it is impossible to escape; yet it would be unreasonable to deny that there is also a musical work; by following it listeners enter the area of art and take part in the event that should be regarded as musical in the first place.
The book is not easy reading. Many concepts of the aesthetics of music derive from aesthetic experience. As such they cannot be proved; they are not always exact and neither can they be strictly delimited. Something that is perceived by one author in this way may be seen by another slightly differently; an expression that this author uses in this way and in this context may have in another context a different meaning. Professor Barbo’s book abounds in allusions, implications, quotations and references to many places from aesthetic literature, old and new. The author takes for granted that readers know the contexts in which particular expressions and concepts were being used, and that they pay due regard to their original meaning. It is only in this case that they can competently and critically follow the narrative of the text. Otherwise they may be lost in a jungle of misconceptions and misunderstandings.
Yet the objective of the book is not just exposition of the author’s thought; it is also a witty and playful compilation of various topics from the aesthetic literature, which combine in various juxtapositions, reinterpretations and amalgamations. This is no doubt one of the book’s merits, yet will be appreciated only by those acquainted with the aesthetic literature. Rather than provide succinct information – which is sometimes scarcely possible due to the mentioned nature of the text – this review therefore rec- ommends study of the book. It is a stimulating reading that may encourage readers to formulate their own opinions and stances.
The history of the aesthetics of music is the history of a constantly developing phil- osophical reflexion on music. In this sense no musical aesthetics gives final answers, although it may formulate them as such. Articles and monographs discussing aesthetic issues are thus just particular points in a broader development, characteristic for their time and place. This applies also for the new book of professor Barbo. The fact that it came into being must be appreciated highly. The book’s rich contents and the way these are discussed make this one of the most important Slovenian texts from the field of the humanities; at the same time it represents a certain point in the development of the aesthetic thought of its author.
Jurij Snoj, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Musicology
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