Divine Harmony in Stone. Musical Concepts in the Architecture of Early Churches

Author(s):  
Gianluca Foschi
Keyword(s):  
1987 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-279
Author(s):  
Carolyn Baxendale

It is clear that all the experience I had gained in writing the first four symphonies completely let me down in this one- for a completely new style demanded a new technique.Twenty-Five years ago a prominent Mahler enthusiast could describe the finale of Mahler's Fifth Symphony as ‘a windy, uninspired stretch of note-spinning, literally scraping the barrel in search of music’. Few people nowadays would subscribe to this view: indeed the upsurge of interest in the work of other ‘late Romantic’ composers has perhaps served to sharpen our admiration for Mahler's exceptional powers of invention and his no less extraordinary mastery of large-scale form. Yet we are not really any closer to explaining just how such extended works are held together and given shape, particularly in the absence of specific extra-musical concepts such as those of the ‘Wunderhorn’ symphonies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-62
Author(s):  
Lisa Giombini

Abstract Although an ontological approach to musical works has dominated analytic aesthetics for almost fifty years, criticisms have recently started to spread in the philosophical literature. Contestants blame mainstream musical ontology for lacking historical awareness, questioning the cogency of metaphysical proposals that are substantially essentialist with regard to our musical concepts. My aim in this paper is to address this accusation by engaging the historicist critics in a sustained debate. I argue that even if the arguments based on history and sociology turn out to be accurate, this may not be enough of a reason to abandon the ontological project altogether. Ontology and history do not necessarily clash. Moreover, historical-sociological examinations do not fulfil our philosophical interest in music. I conclude by making a plea to “historical ontology,” a perspective that does not reject ontology but closely connects it to the dialectic between historical research and aesthetic interest.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tosca Lynch

This paper calls into question a long-lasting but ill-founded tenet of Platonic scholarship, namely that Plato was not interested in, or aware of, the technical implications of the musical concepts he employed in the dialogues. Conversely, I will show how Plato exploited the technical and practical features of the concept ofsymphōnía dià pasôn, and of choral singing more generally, to highlight the unique role played by temperance (sōphrosýnē) in the ideal city. More precisely I contend that Plato’s musical images, far from being decorative or purely metaphoric devices, enrich our understanding of this ethical notion precisely by means of their technical and performative implications, which were very familiar to the original readers of theRepublic. Hence musical theory and practice, in addition to being central elements of the cultural context in which Plato’s reflections must be interpreted, represent also a repertoire of concepts that significantly informed his philosophical theories.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ryan Brake

<p>Solipsis is a six-movement composition for a seventeen-piece jazz orchestra. Each movement was composed to possess its own unique qualities and be able to stand alone. Yet one of the main objectives of this project was to create unity and coherence through the entire suite through the use of non-musical ideas like programmatic themes and conceptual ideas as well as applying various musical techniques such as melodic motifs, harmonic progressions and concepts, chord voicings and rhythm to develop musical ideas.  As a way of creating a sense of unity between each of the pieces, each movement is inspired by themes and motifs inherent in the film Synecdoche, New York, and musical concepts such as nonfunctional harmony (modal harmony and atonal harmony) form the basis for much of the melodic and harmonic material contained in Solipsis.  As preparation for the composition of Soilipsis I studied two three-movement suites from two of the more prominent jazz orchestra writers working today; One Question, Three Answers written by Jim McNeely, and Scenes from Childhood by Maria Schnieder. What follows is a detailed analysis of their works followed by a comprehensive breakdown of my own Solipsis.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
José Luís Postiga

When faced with the artistic-musical concepts developed in the second half of the twentieth century, it is common to observe them from the perspective of the scientific advances they have promoted or resulted from, the abstract organizations in which they are based, the aesthetic principles they create or and almost always fall within the individuality of the interpretation present in the creative act and its representativeness, regardless of the support in which it presents itself. Paradoxically, some of the main classical musical works written in the last quarter of the twentieth century resulted from the musicological study and/or musical representation of concepts, rites, religious practices representative of different cultures of the West and especially the East. In this sense, throughout the present article will be addressed works by composers of Western classical music, such as the case of Jonathan Harvey and Tristan Murail, characteristics of the musical currents that fit, from serialism to spectralism, as well as acoustic and electronic casts, which result. reinterpretations of religious practices of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as sound behaviors of the communicative practice of peoples, such as the songs and instruments of Tibet and Mongolia.


Aleph ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Amnon Shiloah
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Golam Ashraf ◽  
Ho Kok Wei Daniel ◽  
Kong Choong Yee ◽  
Nur Aiysha Plemping ◽  
Ou Guo Zheng ◽  
...  

Vivace is an online musical tower defense game using the tree-of-life metaphor, created using the Unity3D game engine. The game integrates basic music theory with the tower defense mechanic to motivate inspired learning. Vivace is different from most existing musical games, as it integrates notes and chords pedagogy in a puzzle-centric metaphor, as opposed to action/rhythm. This ensures that players undergo active learning by constantly applying and reiterating these musical concepts when tackling enemies and bosses through different levels. This article describes the procedural generation algorithms and game balancing strategies used to implement the game.


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