On the Beauty of Music: A Preliminary Discussion on the Revision of Musical Aesthetics

Author: (Austrian) Hanslick
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: What is the unique beauty of music? "It is a beauty that does not depend on, nor requires external content; it exists in the artistic combination of musical tones. The skillful relationships between beautiful and pleasing sounds, their coordination and opposition, pursuit and encounter, leaps and disappearances—these are presented to our intuitive minds in free forms, and they bring us pleasure in beauty." These moving series of musical tones are the unique feature of musical art, and also the source of its beauty. Hanslick then summarizes his idea concisely: "The content of music is the form of movement of musical tones." These moving series of musical tones can be said to be both form and content. Chapter 7 of this book provides a more detailed explanation of the inseparable characteristics of content and form in music. Before this concise statement, there are some additional explanations: What is expressed using the raw materials of music (all musical tones that can form melodies, harmonies, and rhythms) is called "musical thought" (or translated as "the concept of music"). "A fully expressed musical thought is already an independent beauty in itself, a purpose in itself, not merely a means or raw material for expressing emotions and thoughts."