Abstract
I attempt to revisit here from an interdisciplinary perspective the debate about music and language. The discussion starts from the denial of the language character of music, defended by a certain musicological canon, and is oriented towards its refutation. It postulates the interdependence of performance, context and meaning, both in verbal language and in music. The parallels between “colloquial music” (that is, without being based on a notated support) and conversation or talk, and between writing and musical notation (“presentational music”) allow to develop this comparative approach, ending up with communication beyond the signs and its relevance for the discussion of the language character of music. In conclusion, I argue that musical practices manifest themselves in an endless and unlimited semiosis, to which they give rise as social practices, making them, on the one hand, close to linguistic communication, and, on the other hand, paradigms of artistic communication.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Word Art + Gesture Art = Tone Art |
| Subtitle of host publication | the Relationship between the Vocal and the Instrumental in Different Arts |
| Editors | Hanns-Werner Heister, Hanjo Polk, Bernhard Rusam |
| Publisher | Springer International Publishing |
| Pages | 67-80 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783031201097 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783031201080 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2023 |
Keywords
- Communication and copresence and embodiment
- Communication beyond the signs
- Holistic approach
- Linguistic and musical performances
- Linguistic turn
- Music and language
- Music and the unconscious
- Musical notation and recovery of presence
- Music’s language character
- Semiosis
- The “unsayable” and musical meaning
- Verbalization and deverbalization of music
- “Colloquial” and “presentational” music