Music as an Art
1st Edition
Published on 23. August 2018
272 pages
978-1-4729-5570-8 (ISBN)
Description
In the latest of his books exploring a lifetime's passion for music, bestselling author and philosopher Roger Scruton brings his immense critical faculties to bear on a panoply of different musical genres, both contemporary and classical.
Music as an Art begins by examining music through a philosophical lens, engaging in discussions about tonality, music and the moral life, music and cognitive science and German idealism, as well as recalling the author's struggle to encourage his students to distinguish the qualities of good music. Scruton then explains - via erudite chapters on Schubert, Britten, Rameau, opera and film - how we can develop greater judgement in music, recognising both good taste and bad, establishing musical values, as well as musical pleasures.
As Scruton argues in this book, in earlier times, our musical culture had secure foundations in the church, the concert hall and the home; in the ceremonies and celebrations of ordinary life, religion and manners. Yet we no longer live in that world. Fewer people now play instruments and music is, for many, a form of largely solitary enjoyment. As he shows in Music as an Art, we live at a critical time for classical music, and this book is an important contribution to the debate, of which we stand in need, concerning the place of music in Western civilization.
Music as an Art begins by examining music through a philosophical lens, engaging in discussions about tonality, music and the moral life, music and cognitive science and German idealism, as well as recalling the author's struggle to encourage his students to distinguish the qualities of good music. Scruton then explains - via erudite chapters on Schubert, Britten, Rameau, opera and film - how we can develop greater judgement in music, recognising both good taste and bad, establishing musical values, as well as musical pleasures.
As Scruton argues in this book, in earlier times, our musical culture had secure foundations in the church, the concert hall and the home; in the ceremonies and celebrations of ordinary life, religion and manners. Yet we no longer live in that world. Fewer people now play instruments and music is, for many, a form of largely solitary enjoyment. As he shows in Music as an Art, we live at a critical time for classical music, and this book is an important contribution to the debate, of which we stand in need, concerning the place of music in Western civilization.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
Music examples included
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-5570-8 (9781472955708)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Sir Roger Scruton is widely seen as one of the greatest conservative thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and a polymath who wrote a wide array of fiction, non-fiction and reviews. He was the author of over fifty books including Understanding Music and The Aesthetics of Music, as well as numerous bestselling books of philosophy, history, fiction and criticism.
Content
Introduction
PART I: PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
1 When is a Tune?
2 Music and Cognitive Science
3 Music and the Moral Life
4 Music and the Transcendental
5 Tonality
6 German Idealism
PART II: CRITICAL EXPLORATIONS
7 Franz Schubert and the Quartettsatz
8 Rameua the Musician
9 Britten's Dirge
10 David Matthews
11 Reflections on Deaths in Venice
12 Pierre Boulez
13 Film Music
14 The Assault on Opera
15 Nietzsche on Wagner
16 The Music of the Future
17 The Culture of Pop
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
A Note on the Author
PART I: PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
1 When is a Tune?
2 Music and Cognitive Science
3 Music and the Moral Life
4 Music and the Transcendental
5 Tonality
6 German Idealism
PART II: CRITICAL EXPLORATIONS
7 Franz Schubert and the Quartettsatz
8 Rameua the Musician
9 Britten's Dirge
10 David Matthews
11 Reflections on Deaths in Venice
12 Pierre Boulez
13 Film Music
14 The Assault on Opera
15 Nietzsche on Wagner
16 The Music of the Future
17 The Culture of Pop
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
A Note on the Author
