Aesthetics Meaning in Terms of Music and Early Years and Works of Beethoven - Essay Example

Aesthetics’ and its meaning both generally and in terms of music and, Early years and works of Beethoven Name: Lecturer’s name: Student No: Unit of study Code and Unit of study name: Assignment Number/Name: [WORDS 2120] Introduction The concept of “aesthetic experience” has for a long time intrigued music composers, scholars, students and listeners. Indeed, Davis1 points out those modern-day music educators, specifically those who have centred on exploring the perspectives of music aesthetics have tended to seek explanations on how musical aesthetic experiences, should be perceived, and the elements necessary for people to have aesthetic experience. The concept of music aesthetics originates from the concept of taste, which drew significant philosophical attention in the 18th century. Based on the rationalism on beauty, the 18th century concepts of taste believed that judgement of beauty might be ‘immediate and based on the ‘egoism of beauty,’ which promotes the idea that “pleasure” or beauty is “disinterested.” During this period, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) brought the Classical period to a climax and ultimate. He also marked the start of the Romantic Period2. The central thesis guiding this essay is that the aesthetics of Beethoven’s music gave music a new meaning in the society that set the course of the beauty of music to date. This paper examines the meaning of aesthetics’ both generally and in music, and the early years and works of Beethoven3. 1. Aesthetics’ and its meaning both generally and in terms of music The term aesthetic was first used as a philosophical word list in the 18th century. It is used in designating a form of judgment, experience, object, value, and attitude. Mostly, aesthetic theories seemed to differ over the meanings of these designations, including whether an artwork can be considered to be an aesthetic object, ways in which the relationship between aesthetic experience and value should be understood and the perceptual basis for forming the judgement on whether the artwork has an aesthetic value4. Still, question regarding the more general nature of aesthetics have recently been explored. These include whether aesthetic may be explained without having to appeal or whether an agreement in respect to any one value of an object is sufficient to provide meaning argument on the aesthetic value or experience from an artwork. These second category of aesthetics emerged in the 20th century5. According to Davis6, the concept of aesthetics originates from the concept of taste, which drew significant philosophical attention in the 18th century. Based on the rationalism on beauty, the 18th century concepts of taste believed that judgement of beauty might be ‘immediate and based on the ‘egoism of beauty’7. In terms of immediacy, rationalism of beauty is concerned with the perceptive that judgement beauty should be based on reason, where the reasoning is based on application of concepts and principles. It is against this background that the immediacy thesis was developed8. Examples of philosophers who have used the theory include Jean-Baptiste Dubos on his appraisal of painting, poetry and music in 1719. When it comes to disinterest, Davis9 suggests that egoism on virtue is the perspective of judging a trait or an action by taking pleasure in it, in order to serve one’s interest. Examples include the Hobbesian perspective in the 18th century that considered judging a trait or an action by taking pleasure in it since an individual believes it promotes safety. Hence, a virtue is judged based on the immediate sensation of pleasure10. This implies that the judgements of virtue are based on judging the taste and is equivalent to judging beauty. Hence, people judge something to be beautiful based on the extent to which they are believed to serve human interest. Aesthetic is the theory of beauty. It also consists of the laws of beauty in art. Three vital elements make up a perfect artwork. These include formal beauty, characteristic beauty and ideal beauty. Formal beauty refers to any such type of art that has a define shape, which must however, be in harmony with the artwork. Characteristic beauty denotes the uniqueness of a specific art. On the other hand, ideal beauty denotes the aspect of an art being the work of an individual’s imagination11. 2. Aesthetics in terms of music Westerlund suggests that since the meaning implied by music is not straightforward or unitary in identification, it has a range of understandings that should be viewed from different perspectives12. This is since there is no guarantee that what two individuals’ understand from a piece of music can be the same. From the perspective of pre-modern tradition, music aesthetics describes the cosmological and mathematical dimensions of the harmonic and rhythmic organisation. In the eighteenth century, emphasis was placed on the experiences involved in listening to music, and therefore to inquire about the beauty of music. Indeed, the origin of the shift is traced back to Baumgarten, before Kant. Baumgarten writings explored the concept of aesthetics and the sensory perceptions from listening to music. In the recent times, scholars have appeared to place emphasis on issues other than beauty, such as the capacity of music to convey and appeal to emotions, such as symphony orchestra13. Figure 1: Symphony orchestra appealing to emotions14 Hence, much of the history of the recent thoughts on the concept of aesthetic can be viewed as the history of the progression of disinterest and immediacy theses. Today, appraisal of music lends credence to the modern definition of art. Like art, music is a personal expression. Indeed, music is regarded as signalling mode of expression. It has some aesthetic aspects, such as tones, quality, colour, and rhythms15. Music consists of tones, which are the conscious counterparts of longitudinal and periodic air vibrations. The tone may vary in terms of pitch, intensity, colour, and quality. Pitch depends on the rate of vibration. Colour depends on how complex the vibrations are, while quality refers to the particular character of the tone. Lastly, intensity depends on the vibration’s amplitude. The varied elements of aesthetic experience exist in simplicity, in spite of whether the musical tone is single. Still, the aesthetics are typically objectified in the sound, hence may appeal to the listeners, depending on their colour, intensity, pitch, and quality. Each music note has aesthetic organism. Hence, even a single tone may have its own feelings no matter how insignificant. Music as an aesthetic experience refers to the sounds, causal influence, and qualities of the experiencing subject rather than a physical object. Westerlund asserts that since aesthetic analysis should focus on the qualities of objects of art, it therefore separates artistic action from the entire process16. From the perspective of composition, aesthetics need to have four critical factors. These include labour, vitality, shape and fitness. Vitality denotes the liveliness of music. In music, an indefinable quality has to exists, such as the G Minor Symphony of Mozart. In terms of labour, creating good music should not be an easy task, despite appearing to be so. Regarding the shape, music has to have a balance. For instance, some contemporary compositions from the Classical and Polyphonic Eras lack feeling of growth and lack development in terms of identity. Fitness refers to the quality of the music being resourceful and outstanding although it may be inconsistent with a particular work. For instance, a stanza Swinburne may abruptly appear in Burns’s poem where it cannot fit, although the two may be high in thought in their proper contexts. At the same time, a great musical work should not ridicule itself. Rather, it should say something and communicate, as well as shift throughout the period. For instance, the Bach of the French Suites differs significantly from the Bach of the B Minor Mass. In this case, the Stabat Mater of Rossini that is considered as being music that is much more beautiful is not suitable for the atmosphere of a church. Early years and works of Beethoven Born in 1770, Ludwig Van Beethoven was a German musical composer and innovator. In the musical world, Beethoven and his music have earned a reputation for bridging the gap between the Classical and the Romantic Periods. He expanded the scope of symphony, sonata, concerto, and quartet17. Beethoven’s personal life was characterised by a constant struggle with deafness18. Indeed, he composed most of his principal works during the last decade of his life. From the outset, he had a difficult childhood and is said to have been frustrated and angry most of the time, despite being humorous and personal warmth. Beethoven went through self-education and managed to rise Figure 2: Ludwig Beethoven during his early years19 beyond his tribulations, to become a legendary composer. Indeed, he is described as being the father of modern music20. Ludwig’s father was a tenor singer and court musician named Johann van Beethoven. Beethoven was Ludwig's second child. His father trained him during his childhood to make him a child prodigy. In fact, he made his public debut as a pianist at the age of eight. When Ludwig's reached eleven, he received the required systematic training in performing piano in public. In 1787, Ludwig became employed as musician in Bonn court, being earning a paid leave of absence to study music under the guidance of Mozart in Vienna. He later returned to Bonn mother’s death21. Figure 3: Beethoven when he was a child prodigy22 At the age of 44, he had lost his hearing completely. According to Wolf (2001), the deafness may have been caused by compression of his eighth cranial nerve, linked to Paget's bone disease. Ludwig’s gradual deafness has been termed as having influenced the kinds of compositions he made. According to the BBC23, as his hearing worsened, his music started to centre on the lower and middle-range notes. When he became completely deaf at the age of 44, he started to use high notes. Indeed, scholars have noted that his early quartets (opus 18, 1798-1800) centred on a range of high notes. At the end of 1810 after he created 95 quartets and the opus 74, the number of high notes Ludwig used declined in number substantially, shifting to lower frequency notes. However, the number of higher registers increased in 1825 after writing the late string quartets opus 127 to 13524. His musical career has been categorised into three phases. In the first phase, Ludwig created his First and Second Symphonies, Opus 18 in addition to fifteen thirty two piano sonatas. In the second phase, he started to build Classical works. At this stage, he brought a newer degree of expressiveness. At this stage, Ludwig created Third Symphony. In the third phase, he came up with his greatest works of all time, such as String Quartet No. 1425. It is believed that his high temper, deafness, and chronic diarrhoea were signs of arterial disease. The deafness has been traced to contracting typhus in 179626. In spite of his turbulent personal life, deafness, and physical infirmity, he managed to compose great music. His greatest late works include the String Quartet No. 14 and Missa Solemnis, which were first played publicly in 1824. Ludwig died in 1827 while aged 56. It has been argued that Ludwig’s music comprised own struggles for personal and political freedom27. Indeed, such defiant appeal for freedoms are traceable in his Ninth Choral Symphony, Fifth Symphony, and his opera called Fidelio. In these pieces of music, Lugwig is said to have put many emotions in his works. In all, Ludwig created nine symphonies, as well as Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise28. Conclusion The aesthetics of Beethoven’s music gave music a new meaning in the society that set the course of the beauty of music to date. Aesthetic is the theory of beauty. The concept of music aesthetics originates from the concept of taste, which drew significant philosophical attention in the 18th century. Based on the rationalism on beauty, the 18th century concepts of taste believed that judgement of beauty might be ‘immediate and based on the ‘egoism of beauty.’ During this period, Beethoven’s (1770 - 1827) music served as a transition for Classical to Romantic Period. His musical career has been categorised into three phases. In the first phase, Ludwig created his First and Second Symphonies, Opus 18 in addition to fifteen thirty two piano sonatas. In the second phase, he started to build Classical works. At this stage, he brought a newer degree of expressiveness. At this stage, Ludwig created Third Symphony. In the third phase, he came up with his greatest works of all time, such as String Quartet No. 14. Reference List BBC 21 Dec 2011, "Beethoven music shaped by gradual deafness, say experts," BBC News, viewed 22 Jan 2015, Biography 2014, Ludwig van Beethoven Biography, viewed 23 Dec 2014, ClassicFM 2014, Ludwig van Beethoven, viewed 22 Jan 2015, Dandanmusic.weebly.com 2014, The Baroque Orchestra (1600-1750): Humble Beginnings, viewed 15 Jan 2014, Davis, A "Aesthetic Response to Choral Music: Response Comparisons of Performer Participants and Non-Performer Respondents," International Journal of Research in Choral Singing vol 1 no 1, pp.61-64 Dewey, P 2003, The Principles Of Aesthetics, Ch8, University of Michigan, Michigan Shelley, J 2013, The Concept of the Aesthetic, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 23 Jan 2014, Westerlund, H 2003, "Reconsidering Aesthetic Experience in Praxial Music Education," Philosophy of Music Education Review, vol 11, no. 1, pp.45-61 Wolf, P 2001, "Creativity and chronic disease Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)," Western Journal Medical vol 175 no 5, pp.298 Read More