To what extent is musical taste governed by society - Essay Example

To what extent is musical taste governed by society Though music has played a vital role in alising culture as a enterprise, it had to pass through a series of sacrifices. Music was initially perceived as a conservative art practiced in boundaries of the social life of eighteenth century which had its roots in the cultural aspect of a modern industrialised society (Rutten, 2009a). Through historical study of music, it is clear that music was thought as endanger to societal moral standards of Europe. However later it was realised that music also upholds a religious dimension and quality music has the ability to provoke suppressed religious feelings (McLeod, 1996, p. 17). In this paper, we would analyse music as a magnum opus in the context of historical, cultural and educational significance. How its evolution as an art, closely connected with various trends of our Western civilization Music in different stages has not only permitted but has enforced the application of the so-called 'historical method' which aims at describing the single work of art as a product of the creative mind of a composer or the creative tendencies of a school of composers who remain anonymous. Music in the Historical Renaissance through a passage of change History has reshaped internationally the outlook of music in this era and to many musicians it has harmonised the study and performance of music, therefore distinctive styles are disappearing. The past has also given us a unique concept of national identity that concerns not only the ways in which composers wrote their music, influenced by considerations such as tradition, function, social context and even language, but also its performance. Music has not limited itself to extending aspects of instrument construction and sound ideal. While considering an example of seventeenth century music in Italy, it is obvious that representation and excitation of the emotions fostered were quite contrary to earlier practice, involving emotional expression on the model of speech. Although the Italian language's free expression resulted in the music taking second place to the drama in opera, the unimaginative Italian style of presentation encouraged a trend towards virtuosity in instrumental music. With the passage of time, as Italian music adopted more formal manner of expression, its manner of presentation remained capricious and rich in fantasy (Lawson & Stowell, 1999, p. 43). This way one can see Italian music maintained its national identity, while modernising the social values of music. Music rhetoric Relationships that exist between different musical works enjoy composition among those parts. For example a theme is composed of tones and phrases; a work entails certain themes and is a discourse, of phrases (Frances & Dowling, 1988, p. 134). Since themes and work present as an approximate character of such relationships that has often been noted and attributed to a variety of reasons. First the reason that thought is external to language and that verbal thought can only designate objects and their relations while musical thought embodies its objects in tones on which it strictly depends. Second is the reason that verbal relationships, the ordering of propositions and the succession of phrases are of a logical order, whereas musical 'discourse' is of a perceptual order. What our contemporary society perceives music is the encompassing of activities implied in the comprehension of musical rhetoric to be connected with those of sensory intelligence. It is music that has enabled twentieth century psychology to contribute to the expansion of the domain of thought in the direction of perceptual organisation. For instance, thinking of 'events' and relate them to the source of elaborate activities is what music is perceived in this society however in those activities one can found biological factors of motivation, psychological activities, pathological aspects etc. Music, art and society Society has always attached great symbolic meanings and sentiments to music. In older days music was determined by the interest of the families in it, for religious minded families, music meant hymn-singing, while the rest of the family members enjoyed music-hall songs, either way, music brought together family members who had gone their separate ways all week (McLeod, 1996, p. 187). Even in many religions, music upholds significant values deeply intertwined in the cultural aspects of faith, like prayers and Torah readings are chanted and sung by cantors and rabbis in Jews. Centuries ago musicians who wished to gain some experience interned in Eastern European ghettos by providing the tortured inhabitants with a precious few hours of pleasure. However the ghetto songs served other purposes as well by documenting ghetto life, upholding traditional values, and for entertaining themselves (Rosen & Apfelbaum, 2002, p. 166). It is true that music is measured by social determination, and it is the society that desires to see music as an echo of a larger debate at the roots of educational and especially sociological theory. Basically, the 'new' sociology runs along distinct lines which entail different human cultural groups and sub-cultures to regard and value musical knowledge in different ways. In this aspect one can claim that knowledge is 'problematic' for it does not specify what is worthwhile in a universal sense, least of all for a society that is mixed in ethnic origins and divided over what it regards as valuable and necessary (Swanwick, 1996, p. 104). According to Roy (2006) people use music as a tool to enhance their capabilities, this is usually done to create and relate their emotional states to their skills, therefore we can say that people are not just emotionally influenced by music, but they actually prefer music more than any art work to achieve various emotional states, whether that involves wallowing in their misery or climbing out of a mood (Roy, 2006). Any musical work experienced by the listener is rewarding whether or not he understands the music, it is only when he hears and understands the work that the value of the music can be realised in his perception (Budd, 1985, p. 151). The significance of music can be determined by observing various ways in which our society has encouraged and perceives music in their daily lives. This can be observed by visualising music with reference to geographical sites, sightseeing and movements of people, and cultures across space. Music encompasses an innovative perspective to explore various relationships between music and society, based on the historical, cultural, emotional, economic and educational trends. Various dimensions of Music and its critical impact on society Although music has universally been successful in changing contemporary trends of culture, but one cannot ignore that what music has done to disintegrate cultures, no other art work has ever accomplished. Among the current issues in music and society, the role of music has been criticised in gaining public accessibility which has been outweighed by the loss of something vital. Contemporary issues entail commercialisation of music and the debate between how music has influenced our cultural trends. Many theorists believe that musicians are culture producers who betray enthusiastic support for the Western music by relating it with Nazi cultural policies or in view of the incredible unemployment rate among musicians (Meyer, 1993, p. 2). Of course people who have being directly engaged in this profession devote their time and efforts in providing entertainment to the society, but who cares if musicians went unemployed Music which once was used to appeal as a symphony is no more than a new play or a flop film. Music recordings have changed all that for music because it is now a commodity, which can be easily exchanged for money. Bennett et al (1993) declared that music in context with culture welcomed Rock as a symbol of authenticity to sub cultural and counter-cultural values, which were in opposition to the dynamics of capitalism and their expression through the actions of the music industry was to be welcomed. On the other hand, Rock was declared as politically embedded with American or British in its cultural implications (Bennett et al, 1993, p. 3). Along with Frith, Bennett analysed that the notion of the musical structural homology, follows a parallel track between the formal characteristics of popular music genres and the social locations and stylistic characteristics of subcultures and counter-cultures. Therefore in order to validate rock culture, there is a need to give significance to the high-culture discourses, which include 'folk'. Frith claims that the rock culture provides a sense of autonomy with a combination of folk and artistic arguments to the youth, thereby representing voice of the youth (Bennett et al, 1993, p. 3). In addition to conditions experienced by all professionals in the cultural sector, musicians and musicologists made reference to and benefited from distinct features and traditions of their medium. Live music, for instance, could not be recreated as testimony, while recordings and especially tapes were not widely distributed then. Secondly, pure music was understood to be the most abstract and, thus, 'apolitical' art, one that symbolised the claimed situation of its practitioners. Music was never compromised by musicologists and teachers, this way we see that music has historically lagged behind the literary and other artistic stylistic developments which reflect and address contemporary social and political issues more obviously and concretely (Meyer, 1993, p. 3). What we find today is that despite so many criticisms, music has not been confined in a particular order the way it used to be in the past. Today musicologists do not limit themselves to music-immanent styles, therefore the study of the historical context of music, musicians and related political engagement is changed in context with perception. Music in context of class and cultural refinement Society in earlier days perceived music in two forms, either music of high status catering only a particular class or it was socially situated catering a general class of the society. In both the cases the distinction between the two had two further consequences. First, instrumental music, which was previously the poor relation of vocal music, became pre-eminent as the purest form of autonomous music, having no reference outside of itself, not even to text (Spruce, 2002, p. 8). Second, the emerged distinction more than classes was between the aesthetic and practical type of music with higher status accorded to the former. Art music was appreciated as a value for its lack of a utilitarian function, for its logical working-out of autonomous procedures and its transcending of social context (Spruce, 2002, p. 8). Whereas popular music still today when judged in the same context, it is seen as being inherently inferior by virtue of its reliance on social context and consequent lack of autonomy. Popular music expresses a deep relationship with the culture, this way its reliance upon the culture and social context within which it exists become more obvious. Therefore a new distinction initiated which articulated the division between high and low status music, according to its autonomy on working classes. Art music like that of Bourgeois is confirmed to be superior, so are its consumers are considered of high taste. Thus it is clear that art music is equally as dependent upon a social and cultural context as any other music, and that the fact that western art music is perceived as independent of social context has proven wrong since to be a consumer of western art music is to demonstrate membership of the upper and middle classes. Many scholars believe that the relationship between music and society is dependant upon cultural elite snobbery. Recent research in Europe denies this notion that higher class positions are more likely to be occupied by people who have eclectic tastes and are willing to engage cultural materials across a variety of genres. Eclecticism by elite class is a phenomenon experienced in many ways to which Bethany Bryson suggests that eclecticism has its limits (Hall et al, 2003, p. 53). Even the individuals with high educational and technical skills are still likely to reject the music of the least educated i.e., rap, country, gospel, and heavy metal. There are other theorists that hold a school of thought that people in lower status positions are much more likely to embrace a single genre, which is often mapped on the basis of their race or ethnicity and other badges of identity (Hall et al, 2003, p. 53). How Music Education is related with 'High Status' Knowledge Brian Simon (1987) suggested that a traditional function of education is to articulate and reinforce social divisions; following in his footsteps we can predict that western art music, as a reflection of bourgeois values, formed the foundation of curriculum music lessons during much of the last century. One can suggest that music curriculum and knowledge in the presence of classical music follows a musical style which itself is sufficient to articulate its superior status. However, what is beneficial in education is that the values and procedures of western art music reflect the characteristics of all high status subject knowledge, which itself reflects bourgeois norms and values. Young defined that autonomous western art music enjoys a significant relationship with that of high status subject knowledge as both seek to excel social context through autonomy, objectification and abstraction. There are separate roles that each member of the musical team performs through autonomy, the roles of composer, performer and listener emphasises the importance of the individual over the collective, thus allowing for stratification and selection. Various approaches to acquire music education entails 'schooling' which further reflects four broad categories of music. The first approach was the 'traditional approach' which according to many educationists when prevailed during the first half of the twentieth century, only emphasised on music education as a source of upgrading children into an adult phenomenon. Since the second approach enhanced creativity, it is called as the 'progressive phase' which made a significant progress in the 1960s. Progressive phase made a creative improvement since it combined the musical principles and techniques of the modern music with an emphasis on the educational process towards the learning child. The third phase has remained somewhat vague in nature because of the incorporation of music in national secondary school curriculum in 1970s and 1980s. The fourth approach followed up till now is the 'contemporary approach' which in music education aims to characterize developing children's knowledge of music as a way of knowing and understanding the world through engagement with the musical materials of a wide range of musical styles as performers, composers and listeners. Teaching and Learning Musicology Before taking music in an educational context, music matters were perceived as a philosophy that explained the nature and significance of music education. Later musicology developed as a subject that entailed all the precise details of each music curriculum-as-practicum and differed according to local, cultural and racial circumstances. Nevertheless, this philosophy was developed that achieving the values and aims of music education depends on designing, maintaining, and operating music teaching-learning situations in relation to several connected principles encapsulated by the term reflective musical practicum (Elliot, 1995, p. 241). In developing curriculum structure and content of music, the debate focused upon whether the Programmes of Study should reflect and support the music classroom as a place where children engage with music experientially as performers and composers, or signal a return to music education as 'music appreciation' of a European canon of high art music. The former view prevailed and thus the music Programmes of Study prescribed two Attainment Targets, performing and composing, and listening and appraising, with the proportion of time to be spent on each weighted 2:1 in favour of performing and composing (Spruce, 2002, p. 4). An autonomy with such a 'content free' nature of teaching music was never been granted to any other subject, since music National Curriculum allow music teachers much greater flexibility over subject content and pedagogical style than that enjoyed by colleagues in other subject areas. In this era, music teachers' primary obligation is to provide a context in which children engage with a wide range of music as performers, composers and critical listeners. Such freedom has potentially given many positive benefits to the teachers as well as students. On one hand it allows music teachers a free hand to devise a curriculum that reflects the interests, aspirations and social and cultural backgrounds of their pupils whereas on the other hand this freedom goes in favour of the students because teachers design curriculum in accordance with the students' culture and style. Theorists believe music, culture and music education together opens up new dimensions to experience music (Cook, 1992, p. 2), but past research has witnessed that for many years music teachers in England have remained cautious in intruding on children's culture, particularly in relation to popular music. However, that does not indicate to what extent teachers have experienced such doubts, because contemporary music has undergone major changes brought about by the GCSE syllabus and the National Curriculum, which has provided more and more teachers the opportunity to incorporate popular music, even current charts music, into their lessons. Music, Human rights and violence Throughout history music has undergone many discoveries which include music as a healing power to alleviate distress, but the way it is used today in coping up with various disorders and psychological interventions, has never been experienced before. Scientific research supports music as a natural healing in trauma therapy since music possesses the miraculous power to heal through love and kindness. This has been verified by Congreve who describes music as antidote to violence (Sutton & Kingsley, 2002, p. 120). Contemporary music therapies include healing pre-school children with autistic spectrum disorder, severe physical and mental disorders and various therapies at child development centres (Oldfield, 2006, p. 94). Music therapists are musicians who are trained to formulate goals that use music to address various needs of deficit children and adults. For instance various music therapies encompass activities that help children in making their communication skills stronger or those who are in isolation have the opportunity to practice in socialising and interacting with each other and in developing certain motor skills. Music therapists along with the coordination of other therapists and teachers design a treatment plan specifically tailored to meet child's specific needs that uses music as a resource to aid a child's rehabilitation and development (Gourgey, 1998). Several years of close observation has demonstrated an ability to assess autism among children through artwork; however the best assessment tool, for the multiply handicapped, is the music therapy which takes place by assigning a unique tune to every handicapped. Music therapy works in dual ways, on one hand it focuses on physical movements and vocal sounds and on the other on work with instruments. On the basis of instrumental exploration it is possible to introduce a division in the group between those who do and do not participate or play, it is also possible for individuals to relate to one another musically using very differing resources (Rees, 1998, p. 183). Musical instruments act like therapists' tools and possess a clear and specific purpose to be utilized as the therapist's property. Music therapists, like art therapists are aimed to demonstrate their technical efficiency of their practice by evaluating outcome measures. In fact, music therapy has an established recent history of treatments, processes and results most of which observation techniques and videotape analysis are been used to help increase therapists' understanding of client behaviour. Research with different client groups tells us that outcome protocols and process-oriented research have been considered for people with learning difficulties and schizophrenia. References Bennett Tony, Frith Simon, Grossberg Lawrence, Shepherd John & Turner Graeme, (1993) Rock and Popular Music: Politics, Policies, Institutions: Routledge: London. Budd Malcolm, (1985) Music and the Emotions: The Philosophical Theories: Routledge: London. 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