What Are the Other Terms of Art Music?
Art music is a broad term, encompassing music from a variety of cultures and periods. It excludes most popular music, such as folk songs and tribal music, but includes many forms of classical music, jazz, and blues. In addition, it includes many genres of cultural music from the East, including Indian Hindustani classical music and Indonesian gamelan. It also includes medieval chants from Europe.
Nonreferentialists emphasize beauty of form or expression
The aesthetics of music has been heavily influenced by the analytic philosophy. Though it pays little attention to the subject of beauty, this philosophy has inspired debates on the emotional expressiveness of art music. Music can move an audience deeply, evoking feelings such as beauty, complexity, subtlety, grace, and idiosyncrasy.
Sextus Empiricus said music was an art of tones and rhythms only
Heraclitus said that music was an art of tones and rhythm. While this may be ambiguous, it has some profound concepts. Among these concepts is the idea of harmony. Harmony is the blending of two opposite parts, and the sound they produce is a harmonious combination. Heraclitus also said that harmony cannot be achieved by simply repeating tones.
Martin Luther’s views on music
Martin Luther’s views on music differed significantly from those of his contemporaries. The Geneva Reformer, John Calvin, was a strong proponent of sola scriptura (the Word of God alone as the basis for faith). Luther, on the other hand, did allow for the use of instruments in congregational worship.
St. Augustine’s fear of music
In his work De musica, Augustine discusses music as a liberal art. It is divided into six books and focuses on the philosophical and mathematical principles that are integral to enjoying music. Augustine believed that music had the power to influence the soul. He wanted to explain how music affects the human soul. This was a common view at the time.
Sextus Empiricus
In his book “Against the Musicians”, Sextus empiricus takes on the topic of the role of music in the development of art. The work is divided into 68 sections, in which Sextus attacks the status of music as a science. He questions whether or not music is useful for human happiness and whether it can be considered a science. He also compares music to grammar, and puts forth arguments for and against music as a subject of theoretical discourse.
