(Original posted on April 9, 2002)
This is a collection of research papers on music aesthetics, compiled to provide an overview of the history of Western music aesthetics. The editor is Tomonobu Imamichi, who is also the author of one of the masterpieces of aesthetic commentary, “On Beauty” (Kodansha Shinsho).
The individual papers flow from Ptolemy’s theory of harmony, through considerations of the musical theories of Descartes, Rousseau, Hanslick, Schenker, Adorno, and L. B. Meyer, and on to contemporary music.
While each paper is independent, the collection is structured to feel like a gentle continuum, which can be said to be a demonstration of the editor’s sense of balance. It is particularly noteworthy that the book does not end as a mere enumeration of intellectual history, but deeply considers the relationship with the musical works and social conditions of each era.
Whereas many similar books on the history of music aesthetics tend to present individual thinkers and the characteristics of each era in parallel, this book, under the strong framework of Mr. Imamichi’s aesthetic thought, can be said to organically connect each essay. This allows the history of music aesthetics to be understood as one grand stream.
As for specific content, “A System of Musical ‘Knowledge'” focuses on Johann Mattheson, considered a musician who combined the abilities of a theorist and a practitioner within a single personality, and sheds light on the musical perspective cultivated in early 18th-century Germany by exploring his writings.
In “From Imitation to Caractère,” the book focuses on the musical theory of Chabanon as a typical case of dissent against the theory of musical imitation in the latter half of the 18th century, which is positioned as the cradle of modern musical thought, and develops an argument that helps in understanding the musical perspective of the Classical period.
“Form as Mediation and Truth” takes up Adorno’s music theory, advancing the argument from “form as mediation” to “the dialectic of form and content.” It argues that an artwork, by being mediated by the internal consistency of its form, gives form to the formless, and while its rationality promotes disenchantment, it also criticizes reality by becoming something different from it.
Furthermore, “The Meaning and Form of Music” examines the semantics of L. B. Meyer’s book “Emotion and Meaning in Music,” untangling its problems to approach the essential structure of the aesthetic process in music.
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If you often find yourself wondering “why” about music and enjoy thinking abstractly (metaphysically), I recommend exploring music aesthetics. Since ancient times, many wise minds have been interested in the beauty and power produced by music and have approached it with words. For example, Descartes, famous for “I think, therefore I am,” also left behind a book titled “Compendium Musicae.”
This book arranges 17 papers by contemporary scholars in chronological order of the period they cover, expressing the flow of Western music aesthetics. By reading this book, you can get closer to how music was perceived at the time and what music was to the people of that era. You may also feel that a strong interest in the “uniqueness of the power of music” runs through the entire work.
However, it is a fact that the book’s format as a collection of papers can give an intimidating impression. It is generally highly specialized, and there are many instances where an understanding of the background research is necessary, making it a book that tends to be for a select readership. I myself am far from understanding the papers that are outside my area of expertise.
But if even one essay resonates with you, you can use it as an entry point to deepen your understanding of adjacent eras or to have a “this is exactly what I was thinking” moment. Therefore, I recommend it to anyone who fits the description above.
Table of Contents for “Symphony of Spirit and Music”
- Editor’s Preface
- Music as the Self-Presentation of Thought – Tomonobu Imamichi
- The Structural Resonance of the Celestial Bodies: On Ptolemy’s “Theory of Cosmic Harmony” – Eisuke Tsugami
- Inner Music: On Augustine’s “De Musica” – Kasumi Tanaka
- The Musical Art of Flying Apsaras: Praetorius’s “Syntagma Musicum” – Tomonobu Imamichi
- Music from the Ear to the Intellect: Beauty and Pleasure in Music in Descartes – Ken’ichi Sasaki
- A System of Musical “Knowledge”: Mattheson’s Theory of Affects – Masashi Isoyama
- The 18th-Century Avant-Garde: Rousseau’s Musical Thought – Toshinobu Ebizawa
- A Cross-Section of 18th-Century Musical Thought: The Case of Eximeno’s “On the Origin and Rules of Music” – Joaquín M. Benítez
- From Imitation to Caractère: Chabanon’s Theory of Music – Akiko Oana
- Music as the Objectification of the Will: Schopenhauer’s Aesthetics of Music – Mamoru Watanabe
- Reception Aesthetics in Music: Hanslick’s Theory of Auditory Experience – Hiroshi Kuniyasu
- A Theory of Living Music: The Musical View in Schenker’s “Free Composition” – Eiji Shidehara
- Form as Mediation and Truth: Adorno’s Critical Theory of Music – Susumu Shono
- The Sociological Interpretation of Music: On Adorno’s Musicological Physiognomy – Kazuyoshi Negishi
- The Unspeakable, Music and Death: Jankélévitch’s Interpretation of Debussy – Noriko Hashimoto
- The Meaning and Form of Music: Meyer Revisited – Yoshio Tozawa
- An Attempt to Distinguish the Main Tendencies in Contemporary Music – Joaquín M. Benítez
- List of First Publications / About the Contributors
About the Author
Tomonobu Imamichi
Born in 1922. Graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo in 1948. Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. Doctor of Letters. Currently a professor at a Catholic University of Japan (Eichi University), Director of the International Institute of Philosophy in Paris, and Director of the International Center for the Comparative Study of Philosophy and Aesthetics. Life Member after serving as Honorary President of the International Association for Aesthetics, and Standing Committee Member of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies. Fields of study: Philosophy, Ethics, Aesthetics. (Quoted from this book)
