Esthetics of Music

by Carl Dahlhaus, William W. Austin (Translator)

This book is an introduction to the esthetics of music. Aesthetics, which were of prime importance in thinking about music in the nineteenth century, are today sometimes suspected of being idle speculation. Yet judgments about music and every sort of musical activity are based on aesthetic presuppositions. Carl Dahlhaus gives an account of developments in the aesthetics of music from the mid-eighteenth century onwards. He combines a historical and systematic approach. Central themes in music are grouped together to illustrate both the historical course of events and a systematic unity of the essential elements in the aesthetics of music. For this edition, the late Carl Dahlhaus provided an annotated bibliography. William Austin has added books for the English-speaking reader, and has also supplied notes to the text to help the student.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Fabrizio Valenza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molto utile e chiaro per avere un’infarinatura di base.

[Gastjäle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Esthetics of Music, Dahlhaus attempts to trace the origin of certain presupposition that characterise the then-current attitudes towards (primarily classical) music and prejudices against the usefulness of aesthetics. While he published his treatise in 1967, this work has not lost its relevance at all. In fact, it lays bare the historical, theoretical and philosophical nature of many musical presuppositions that continue to prevail even in our days.

This review will be more of a listing of aspects and key points of Dahlhaus’s work, rather than my own insights or analyses. I found that this would be the most useful approach to this work, since I have not yet incubated the ideas sufficiently to express due gratitude towards this wonderful little work.

Some of the things that we should not be taken for granted are and, indeed, in some cases should not even subscribe to are: subjective pleasure is the foremost criterion for musical criticism, music should / can be experienced intuitively without the interruption of ideas, elements in a musical work should be harmonious, a musical work is the score / idea of it as opposed to the performance, the musical work stands on its own and is not limited to be a mere specimen of its style or genre, music is the expression of the artistic “I” or the performer, instrumental music has as much intrinsic value as non-instrumental music, the effect of a song lies in the subjective reception thereof, music’s non-verbal qualities and nuances are a good thing, music is non-moral, enthusiasm is positive, music is music and emotions are emotions, originality as a criterion, aesthetic appreciation is immediate and without presuppositions and a musical performance is part of its surroundings. Dahlhaus points out the source of many of these ideas either directly or indirectly through showing, which philosopher or theorist espoused which ideas.

After going through various ideas and their origins, pros and cons, Dahlhaus quite helpfully proposes various standards for criticism to combat the desiccating relativism in aesthetical experiences. While the exposition of the history of musical aesthetics was thought-provoking in its own right, it is this section (Chapter 14) that is simply brimming with insight and astuteness. The criteria that Dahlhaus discusses and endorses (with due reservation) are 1) perfection and greatness (these two should not be considered synonymous); 2) music needs to develop “in all direction” (an idea of Schoenberg’s, born out of the opposition towards the principle of economy, that things strive for simplicity—this principle Dahlhaus sees merely good for determining the success, not the greatness, of a piece); 3) agreement among the components of the musical work (however, discrepancies or ambiguities should not be written off as blemishes without analysis, for they might be justified); 4) the positive AND negative qualities of the musical work, both understood as integral to the work and not ranked so that the positive (such as pretty timbres or melodies) are deemed intrinsically better than the negative (e.g. harshness of tone or clunkiness of rhythm); 5) novelty as part of a tradition, not merely fashionable discontinuity; and 6) susceptibility to several equally meaningful interpretations.

As you can see, there are plenty of criteria included. Dahlhaus dislikes the idea of converging all pieces of criticism under a single idea, such as “pleasure” or “beauty”—this is seen as mere impoverishment due to an unnecessary insistence on system-building or reduction. He advocates criticism that, in addition to figuring out whether a work is great or not, is supported by interpretation, historical consciousness and the tracing of changes in a repertory and in the structure of a tradition. But above all, it is important to make it clear which presuppositions and criteria are at play—something that simply could not be done with the print space reserved for today’s criticism.

In addition to the core of his exposition, Dahlhaus also comes with with superb observations along the way. Here’s a foursome for everyone’s delight:
- Music’s erstwhile functional or entertaining purposes might be gone historically speaking, but they can still be retained in the music. Cf. the feel of a minuet or a Gregorian chant.
- Expressiveness in music constitutes a paradox: one must be original, yet the originality must become formulaic (i.e. develop recognisable patterns either through the work itself or through subsequent analysis) in order to be understood.
- Schopenhauer’s idea that music works directly on the will is far from positive. The will is the supreme essence of reality, yet it is something dark and base: this is what music is supposed to represent for him and what it is working on. A more positive side of music is something that is connected to clarity, such as clear ideas.
- The difference between programmatic and absolute music is not total. Absolute music can guide the interpretation thereof through names of movements or works, for instance.

Well worth anyone’s time, who does not see the listening and experiencing of music, let alone expressing one’s thoughts and emotions regarding it, as an obvious matter. While the overall exposition suffers a bit from a lack of crystal-clear coherence, the manner of argumentation and the use of knowledge herein are exemplary.

[Luiz Fukushiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Estética musical de Dahlhaus não é uma estética original propriamente dita, mas, a partir de sua consideração inicial de que a estética é a história da estética, vê-se que se trata de uma proposta estética a partir de seus movimentos. Partindo de temas abstratos, como efeito, juízo artístico, ideia, e outros relacionados a questões musicais, como música programática e ópera, Dahlhaus discute diversos autores que se dedicaram à estética musical antes mesmo do termo existir. Trata-se de um trabalho de fôlego que debate desde nomes célebres como Kant, Hegel e Schopenhauer até nomes menos conhecidos. Parece ser uma análise séria e cuidadosa desses autores—o que não posso comprovar pelo desconhecimento—, mas certamente é uma ótima porta de entrada para a estética musical, em especial a dos séculos XVIII e XIX.