The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue: A Phenomenology of Music

by Bruce Ellis Benson

Whereas most books on the philosophy of music focus on the creation and reproduction of music, Bruce Benson's concern is the phenomenology of music making as an activity. He offers a radical thesis that improvization is of primary importance at the moment of music making. The book brings together a wide range of musical examples from classical music, jazz, early music and other genres. Incorporating analytic and continental philosophy, musicology and performance-practice issues, it is a provocative study for philosophers of art and musicologists. It also appeals to general readers; especially those who perform.

Genres: Music, Philosophy

216 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 1999

About the author

Dr. Benson has been a visiting scholar at the New School and a guest lecturer in philosophy of religion at Union Theological Seminary. He is currently the chair of the philosophy department at Wheaton College (IL).

Reviews

[Oscar Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very refreshing view of the music making activity as a process, an ecosystem where all its participants are creatively involved in the (re)creation of musical pieces - composers, performers, listeners and all the traditions, contexts and practices since the beginning of music history. It serves to show the limits and prejudices of the (contemporary?) classical music activity as being rooted on romantic and ideal views of composers and performers which have no standing in actual practice, or in most of its history, for that matter.

Still, I get a feeling that some of the arguments (such as the interactions between composers and the audience) needed further detailing, while others (such as the view that performers are always improvisers) are over-explored throughout the book. B. E. Benson clearly has a very strong background in philosophy and aesthetics, which allows him to make very important and smart connections but, at the same time, its style is sometimes a bit demanding for the listener, due to the rapid sequence of questions and answers of different topics.

[Iyad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting, though not profound, book on composition and performance as a dialogue. the claim that it is "A Phenomenology of Music" is a big overstatement, but the book is interesting in its posing of important questions regarding the "work". Is is probably of special interest for performers.