Conflicting Aesthetic Ideals in a Musical Culture

1987 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Smith
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Performance Data ◽  
Aesthetic Response ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
Space Allocation ◽  
Split Personality ◽  
Aesthetic Ideal

One can distinguish a culturally valued aesthetic response to music's intrinsic syntax from a culturally devalued aesthetic response to music's more extrinsic meaning. Experts probably hold a highly syntactic aesthetic ideal. By some accounts, novice listeners hold a less syntactic, more romantic ideal. If so, two aesthetic styles would coexist in musical culture, with experts broadcasting their syntactic ideal to the culture and listeners echoing it in their ideas of musical greatness. However, novices would have a musical split personality—with romantic preference at odds with the expert ideal, but a syntactic ideal of greatness congruent with it. An analysis of American classical music culture of the 1940s (using preference, eminence, space allocation, and musical performance data on Western composers collected by Farnsworth, Hevner-Mueller, etc.) confirmed these predictions. The results indicate the importance of nonsyntactic responses to listeners and suggest further research on these aesthetic dimensions which the culture's syntactic focus has orphaned. Such research might illuminate another cultural phenomenon—the rejection of contemporary music by audiences.

scholarly journals Art music, perfection and power: Critical dialogues with classical music culture in contemporary cinema

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Pontara
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Musical Work ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Relations Of Power

During the last three decades music scholars have provided a growing amount of critical accounts of what they contend is a fundamental conceptual support behind the performance of classical music, namely the belief in aesthetically autonomous and endurable musical works free-standing from any cultural and social context. According to this ontology, the primary obligation of the performer is to present and interpret the musical work, a performance ideal that has been claimed to foster a musical culture obsessed with perfectionism and permeated by problematic relations of power. Such critical assessments have of late migrated beyond the academic discourses of music scholars into the venues of popular culture, a phenomenon evidenced in particular by a variety of recently released feature films. This article argues that current screen media representations of classical musicians are involved in a complex critical dialogue with deep-rooted aesthetic ideologies clustering around classical music and its performance. Although such representations advance a view of classical music culture as being deeply permeated by structural inequalities, performance anxiety and unreasonably high standards of perfection, they don’t necessarily reject the notion of the musical work or devalue the high-art status and emancipatory potential traditionally ascribed to classical music.

Stylistic Morphing: Notes on the Digitisation of Contemporary Music Culture

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 106-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Sandywell ◽  
David Beer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Digital Music ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Final Word ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cultural Implications ◽  
Definitive Statement

This article is a series of notes concerned with tracking the social and cultural implications of the digitisation of music. In this piece we explore a number of emerging questions and phenomena with the explicit intention of opening new sets of questions and creating opportunities for further reflections and more detailed empirical case studies. This article, therefore, is not intended as a final word or a definitive statement on the phenomenon of cultural morphing, but rather it represents an attempt to experiment, to develop, and to explore the field of hybridisation and popular cultural change. It is hoped that these exploratory notes will illuminate some of the cultural transformations resulting from the proliferation and appropriation of a wide range of digital music technologies.

scholarly journals PARALITURGICAL WORKS AS A SACRED-AESTHETIC ELEMENT OF UKRAINIAN MUSICAL CULTURE

2020 ◽  
pp. 26-53
Author(s):  
Hanna Karas ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Golden Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Strong Connection ◽  
Xxth Century ◽  
Material Development ◽  
National School ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Aesthetic Ideal

The purpose of the section is to clarify the place of Ukrainian diaspora composers’ paraliturgical works of the XXth century and, in particular, the works of Mykhailo Hayvoronsky (1892–1949) in the spiritual musical culture of Ukrainians. Paraliturgical works include spiritual songs and chants performed outside the church’s Christian canonical rite. In the works of composers it is: a series of chants from Pochaiv’s «Bogohlasnyk», arrangements of koliadkas, songs of the Virgin and Resurrection, prayers to the King of Heaven, communions. Paraliturgical music of diaspora composers testifies to a strong connection with traditions: here we have the influence of «part-song», and the achievement of the «golden age» of Ukrainian music, and creative achievements in this genre of older contemporaries – M. Lysenko, M. Leontovych, K. Stetsenko. On the other hand, there is a close connection of this music with folklore sources, first of all, in the field of melody, texture, principles of musical material development. The sacral-aesthetic element of M. Hayvoronsky’s spiritual music is expressed by the figurative content of these works (bright, contemplative mood, sorrowful-focused prayer spirit, joyful exaltation, mood spirit), aesthetic categories (sublime, beauty, harmony, aesthetic ideal). Due to its genre and stylistic features, the paraliturgical music of diaspora composers became an integral part of the national school of composers development and contributed to the establishment of its identity.

scholarly journals Consumers on Critique: A Survey of Classical Music Listeners’ Engagement with Professional Music Reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205920432093133
Author(s):  
Elena Alessandri ◽  
Dawn Rose ◽  
Olivier Senn ◽  
Katrin Szamatulski ◽  
Antonio Baldassarre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Criticism ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Music Market ◽  
Typical Consumer ◽  
New Generation

Music criticism has a long tradition as a leading agent in the classical music discourse. However, some people question its function in the contemporary music market. We explored the topicality of classical music critique by asking: Who reads professional reviews today? And what do readers expect from review? Through an online survey (English/German), we profiled the listening habits of classical music listeners ( N = 1200) and their engagement with professional reviews. Our participants were more actively engaged with music, but contrary to the ‘highbrow’ stereotype, not more highly musically trained than the general population. They consumed music and opinion sources in a variety of ways. Approximately two-thirds ( n = 741) of the participants had recently engaged with professional reviews, which were perceived as the most useful form of opinion, followed by short written commentaries and, lastly, ratings. A multiple logistic regression model suggested that the typical consumer of professional music critique was older with higher levels of musical engagement and education, had a higher inclination to purchase music and lower usage of streaming services, and had a preference for detailed reviews from traditional sources (e.g. newspapers). According to review readers, reviews should cover a variety of topics and offer evaluations underpinned with reasons. Reviewers should be constructive, open-minded, respectful, and well informed; their professional background was less relevant. Professional reviews should not necessarily provide a recommendation on what to buy, but rather guide listeners’ musical appreciation and understanding. Professional criticism still has an audience, although more so among older, musically educated listeners. Critics need to explore various channels in order to connect to a new generation of classical music listeners.

French Music Criticism and Musicology at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: New Journals, New Networks

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-32
Author(s):  
Michel Duchesneau
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Criticism ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
French Music ◽  
Through Diffusion

This article examines the efforts of French musicologists to create a specialized journal at the turn of the twentieth century that would clearly associate music criticism and musicology. Using as case study a set of music journals, from La Revue d’histoire et de critique musicales to the Mercure musical and the Revue S.I.M. that followed, I establish the connections that brought together the nascent musicological milieu, the musical press and the artistic affinities among the principal actors in their attempt to create a new network of music critics guided by musicological exigencies. Jules Combarieu, Romain Rolland, Louis Laloy, Jean Marnold, Émile Vuillermoz and Jules Écorcheville are some of the musicologists engaged in this project between 1900 and 1914. But historical contingencies make this project a relative utopia, and requirements of the young musicology hardly meet that of a music criticism divided between disciplinary tradition and the necessity to support contemporary music. After the war, with the founding of a new Revue musicale, René Prunières, prudently, would not hire musicologists to develop a music criticism. Instead, he took up the characteristically Republican project of promoting musical culture, and thus responding to the interests of both the cultivated bourgeoisie and the musical, literary and artistic milieus through diffusion of music knowledge.

A contemporary cultural policy for contemporary music?

2016 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Homan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Cultural Nationalism ◽  
Cultural Economy ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Cultural Sector

Creative Nation confirmed the shift by federal governments to viewing popular music as part of the Australian cultural economy, where the ‘contemporary music’ industries were expected to contribute to economic growth as much as providing a set of creative practices for musicians and audiences. In the 19 years between Creative Nation and Creative Australia, much has changed. This article examines relationships between the music industries, governments and audiences in three areas. First, it charts the funding of popular music within the broader cultural sector to illuminate the competing discourses and demands of the popular and classical music sectors in federal budgets. Second, it traces configurations of popular music and national identity as part of national policy. Third, the article explores how both national policy documents position Australian popular music amid global technological and regulatory shifts. As instruments of cultural nationalism, Creative Nation and Creative Australia are useful texts in assessing the opportunities and limits of nations in asserting coherent national strategies.

scholarly journals SOUTH KOREAN TV SERIES IN THE SERVICE OF MUSIC EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-156
Author(s):  
SERGEI A. AIZENSHTADT ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Symphony Orchestra ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
The South ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Musical Life ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Serial Films

In this article we study forms and methods used to popularize western classical music in a South Korean TV series. The main subject of analysis is the TV series Beethoven Virus (2008) devoted to a symphony orchestra in a fictional South Korean city. The main purpose of this TV series is the promotion of classical music, and the author of the article comes to the conclusion that its popularity among Korean audience is explained by its engaging, convincing artistic methods with respect to national cultural specificities, which were used to show the working environment of professional musicians. The series reveals real problems of modern Korean musical culture: “crisis of overproduction” of academic musicians; discrimination of graduates of South Korean musical educational institutions; prejudice that classical music is only for the rich. The author emphasizes that immersion into the atmosphere of professional musical life allows the viewers to apprehend the educational value of the TV series more clearly. Beethoven Virus demonstrates traditional Korean attitude towards European classical music determined by the Confucian roots; and at the same time, it depicts changes in the modern culture conditioned by gradual departure from traditional values. The two main characters — the young and the old conductors — symbolize the old and the new in the Korean musical culture. They interact in a traditional eastern way: the new spirit does not openly conflict with the established convention, but sprouts from it. The author suggests that the music is explained in the film through emotional associations which let the viewers fully perceive the musical idea. The author believes that this method, compared to other ways widespread in the West, corresponds to the nature of the specific sensation of European classical music associated with Confucian cultural roots. An opinion is expressed that methods of music education used in Beethoven Virus were chosen in accordance to the South Korean serial genre traditions: leitmotivs in the soundtrack and gesture clichés are of particular significance here. The author suggests that the South Korean experience of promoting musical classics by means of serial films can be used abroad — given that the differences in mentality and realities of musical life are taken into account.

scholarly journals DAGESTAN PROFESSIONAL MUSICAL ART IN HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT: THE SECOND HALF OF THE XX - BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-386
Author(s):  
Elmira B. Abdullaeva
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Species Differentiation ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
The Look ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Actual Part

The article describes the patterns and features of the development of the musical art of Dagestan at different stages of its evolution over more than half a century of history. We have analyzed the components of the musical and professional tradition, giving a holistic view of it, versatile reflecting both the originality and originality, and historical variability. These include: genre-species differentiation and systemic connections, stylistics and means of musical expression.The multifaceted study and the possibility of interpreting the data obtained allows one to create an idea of ​​the ways of the formation and development of the musical art of Dagestan during the period under consideration. The initial premises of the study can be summarized as follows.The structure of musical art is formed on the basis of the interrelationships of composer's creativity, performing practice and various cultural interchanges that undergo stylistic and genre-specific changes.The second premise was the look at the musical art of Dagestan as an actual part of modern culture. Therefore, the main source has become various forms of broadcasting musical culture (listening practice and analytical observations at concerts of classical music).Reliance on contemporary musical material and direct observation of the musical process in the field of classical, pop and other spheres of culture presupposes the study of the phenomenon in a synchronic aspect. The presence of publications by different authors and our own research experience make it possible to a certain extent to make diachronic comparisons.The important regularities in the development of the Dagestan academic musical art identified by us can form the basis for further research of genre phenomena in different historical periods.

scholarly journals The Classical Music Culture of South India

Indialogs ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Mohan Ramanan
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Music Culture

scholarly journals Features of the Ukrainian performing school of opera in the context of the evolution of European traditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Borko
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Comparative Methods ◽  
Stylistic Analysis ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
National Music ◽  
Methodological Principles

The purpose of the study is to consider, analyze the features and main aspects related to the development of the Ukrainian performing school of opera in the context of the evolution of European traditions. Methodology. Leading research methods are historical-genetic, comparative, methods of genre and stylistic analysis, and the method of performance analysis. Scientific novelty. The article examines the main aspects, characteristics, and methodological principles of Ukrainian and European musicology, which opened new opportunities for a more complete, unbiased study of the path that had to overcome the national music culture, opera. Conclusions. As conclusions of the research results, we can say that a detailed study and study of the history, present, and trends of national music culture contributes to the development of modern performance. Absolutization of the research approach can lead to significant losses in the scientific interpretation and interpretation of artistic trends and even certain distortions in the creation of a holistic view of musical processes. Keywords: performing school, opera art, musical art, musical culture, Ukrainian music.  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document