Once upon a time, some ancient Greek philosophers and a not-so-ancient scientist named Keppler postulated that the universe is governed by mathematical relationships. And when they said "universe" they meant everything, from atoms to planets. Even music.
This led to the idea that the apex of musical beauty is harmony.What did they mean by "harmony?" More math. (ya' just gotta' love the enthusiasm of those mathematicians ...)
Basically, they believed that beautiful music should be regulated by some sort of mathematical relationship. The end. Or at least, that's the version of the story I was told.
My initial reaction? "Uh... ok."
My ten-seconds-later reaction? "Hey, wait a minute!"
I'm a grandchild of Modernism (I mean that in the best sense), so I definitely believe that the material universe can be explained by mathematics/reason/logic. In other words, I believe that music can be translated into math.
However, I'm also a child of Post-Modernism (I mean that also in the best sense), so I rebel against the idea that the magic of music can be reduced down to math.
I don't doubt that the beauty of music can be represented through mathematical principles. But I don't think that mathematical relationships are the source of the magic of music.
Nope; I believe the actual beauty of music is found outside of the math.But what does that mean for music producers/consumers in our world? I mean, establishing that the source of beauty is otherworldly doesn't change the fact that math is a means to representing/realizing the beauty of a piece of music here on earth. The significance of this distinction is that it demonstrates that
Beauty is not subject to Math, but Math is subject to Beauty.Sure, music can be translated into math, just like my thoughts can be translated into words. But just like words, in and of themselves, can't evaluate the truth of my thoughts, so math can't evaluate the beauty of music.
So exactly how is one supposed to evaluate Beauty? Er ... um ... goodness, look at the time!
"Sure, music can be translated into math, just like my thoughts can be translated into words. But just like words, in and of themselves, can't evaluate the truth of my thoughts" i really, really like that, Erin!
ReplyDeleteHa-ha! Thanks, Shan. :)
ReplyDeleteQuestion, Shan: when I edit a post I've published, do you guys all get notification notices? If so, I'm really sorry! The preview button doesn't work very well, so sometimes I don't know how it's gonna' look until I publish it. And then I always find something to fix after I publish it ... it's kind of an addiction. ;)
ReplyDeletehaha nope, well, at least i don't think i do. i don't really ever go to my Google Reader i just come right out here. so i haven't been checking but i can ask Dad. i think you're safe though. :)
ReplyDeleteSo you believe that ordering of music (mathmatical ordering) is beautiful because it inherent in nature, right? Because music does have an mathmatical ordering (known as octives), and I sometimes wonder if it is this ordering that makes music beautiful, or if it is our understanding of the ordering of the music.
ReplyDeleteReally, is it the ordering that makes the music beautiful (and that ordering has math as it's base, and these same mathmatical orderings can be found in lots of other places) or is it our understanding of the ordering of music and how we use it in making music that develops the beauty?
Personally my answer is yes to both counts. The notion that mathmatical relationships can be seen in so many different ways in our universe demonstrates to me how wonderfully creative our God is, to have made such a universe. Math really has a beauty in and of itself, and it imparts its beauty into music. Furthermore, ordering things is what God does. Out of the chaos (i.e. the nothingness) God made the universe; He made order. So for music to have an order, and that order is the understanding of the octive and its relation to other octives together in a piece...that's just pretty awe-inspiring.
At the same time, the octives by themselves do not make music...they're just frequencies of vibration. We as humans have to make/manipulate the frequencies in such as way that we find them pleasing to our ears. We take the mathmatical order, and then we order some more, and then we get music. This music may be beautiful to some, but not to others. In this way, the beauty of music is subjective, and outside of math.
So I have to disagree with you, the beauty of music is subject to math, but only until a certain point. What you and I find to be beautiful sounding music can be drastically different. But their is always an inherent beauty to the music, because the math is behind it. Math has a beauty all its own. So, really I'm saying there are two beauties: the inherent and the subjective (kind of like there are two truths, but I'll leave that alone).
But I think your right about beauty in general: "Er...um...goodness, look at the time!" Funny.
This is Cole, by the way.
So, basically, what you're saying is that beauty = order. And order is pretty muchly the same as harmony.
ReplyDeleteHmm... still not sure what I think about all that.
But I like the idea of both the objective and subjective forms of beauty/truth. :) I think that makes sense in light of the fact that we humans are mini-creators created by the ultimate Creator. :)
An old dog is jumping ( or hobbling ) off the porch to try and keep up with young pups.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure there is always an inherit beauty to music, think Da-Da. Music, like a building, a computer program, or a piece of art can be designed/constructed poorly and thus, not participate in beauty. It still may have an order or harmony but there does seem to be a point at which the order becomes disorder and ceases to participate in this thing we call beauty?
I’m inclined to think that beauty has another attribute that we are overlooking. I’m thinking that order must conform to something outside of itself in order to be recognizable as beauty.
Ok, time to hop back on the porch… boy, that is a mighty big step… I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Thanks you guys!