Page 96 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 13, zvezek 27 / Year 13, Issue 27, 2017
P. 96
SBENOPEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 27. zvezek
change. We may find transitions from, say, a matter-of-fact character, to a sense of
urgency; or, alternatively, a mere sense of accumulating significance. In such cases,
simply listening to the vocal tones of the conversation exclusively, we can follow the
cumulative progression of a narrative of emotional intonations.
Now, the decisive point is that the gestural aspects of an emotion can be mimicked so as to
make a point, or to deceive, or to amuse other people. In other words, vocal gestures can
present possible emotional responses rather than actual ones. This is the case with singing
or instrumental articulations of sound. They present possibilities of expressive experience,
irrespective of whether or not the performer or composer actually experiences or
experienced such feelings. Expressive features are presented at the auditory gestural level
so as to create narratives of intonation and its development as possibilities of experience
for a performer or listener. Music, in other words, is virtual expression.
The narrative factor involved in this is closely tied to the tonal system. It allows the
intonations to be developed through structures that allude to real life feelings but without
being having to be tied to any actual real-life situations. Major keys have strong general
associations of positive and assertive feeling and/or movement, whilst minor keys have
more introspective or melancholic association. The meaning of individual musical units
and phrases within such keys and, indeed, the transitions from one to another is a function
of their place in the developing whole of the work in which they are parts. They anticipate
both that which is yet to come, and reconfigure the meaning of parts that have preceded
them.
The upshot of all this is that the tonal scale-system is a kind of formalization of the
intonations of auditory conversational narrative. Indeed, it enables the relation between
units of sound (be they vocal or instrumental) to be formalized to such a degree, that the
developing narrative of emotionally intonated notes, rhythms, and harmonies becomes
much more complex. A narrative structure of virtual expression is formed not just through
the evocation of vocal tones but also from patterns of interaction or conflict between them.
They can be described in terms akin to those which pertain to the emergence and
development of emotional states in personal and group narratives.
Of course, one might describe a piece of music as ‘cheerful’ or ‘sad’ but if that was all that
could be said about it, the piece would be fairly mediocre. The real substance of musical
meaning and expression lies in the way that tense, relaxed, or anticipatory phases are
transformed into others – usually in an extended way on the basis of melodic, rhythmic,
and harmonic factors. The point is that music engages us not just emotional associations as
such, but through the way these are given narrative development of a unique kind.
In this respect, let us consider the children’s nursery tune Frere Jacques.
‘Frere Jacques, frere Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.’
96
change. We may find transitions from, say, a matter-of-fact character, to a sense of
urgency; or, alternatively, a mere sense of accumulating significance. In such cases,
simply listening to the vocal tones of the conversation exclusively, we can follow the
cumulative progression of a narrative of emotional intonations.
Now, the decisive point is that the gestural aspects of an emotion can be mimicked so as to
make a point, or to deceive, or to amuse other people. In other words, vocal gestures can
present possible emotional responses rather than actual ones. This is the case with singing
or instrumental articulations of sound. They present possibilities of expressive experience,
irrespective of whether or not the performer or composer actually experiences or
experienced such feelings. Expressive features are presented at the auditory gestural level
so as to create narratives of intonation and its development as possibilities of experience
for a performer or listener. Music, in other words, is virtual expression.
The narrative factor involved in this is closely tied to the tonal system. It allows the
intonations to be developed through structures that allude to real life feelings but without
being having to be tied to any actual real-life situations. Major keys have strong general
associations of positive and assertive feeling and/or movement, whilst minor keys have
more introspective or melancholic association. The meaning of individual musical units
and phrases within such keys and, indeed, the transitions from one to another is a function
of their place in the developing whole of the work in which they are parts. They anticipate
both that which is yet to come, and reconfigure the meaning of parts that have preceded
them.
The upshot of all this is that the tonal scale-system is a kind of formalization of the
intonations of auditory conversational narrative. Indeed, it enables the relation between
units of sound (be they vocal or instrumental) to be formalized to such a degree, that the
developing narrative of emotionally intonated notes, rhythms, and harmonies becomes
much more complex. A narrative structure of virtual expression is formed not just through
the evocation of vocal tones but also from patterns of interaction or conflict between them.
They can be described in terms akin to those which pertain to the emergence and
development of emotional states in personal and group narratives.
Of course, one might describe a piece of music as ‘cheerful’ or ‘sad’ but if that was all that
could be said about it, the piece would be fairly mediocre. The real substance of musical
meaning and expression lies in the way that tense, relaxed, or anticipatory phases are
transformed into others – usually in an extended way on the basis of melodic, rhythmic,
and harmonic factors. The point is that music engages us not just emotional associations as
such, but through the way these are given narrative development of a unique kind.
In this respect, let us consider the children’s nursery tune Frere Jacques.
‘Frere Jacques, frere Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.’
96
