I have heard that Plato advanced the idea that there exists an objective Ideal of things, that everything in the natural world is more or less like. An Ideal chair, and Ideal triangle, etc. To the extent that things are more like that Ideal, they are more accurate.
I was wondering today, as I listened to the Superman theme song on my stereo: is it possible that there is an Ideal musical representations for inherently non-musical things? Like, is there an Ideal Superman song that somehow perfectly captures the essence of Superman? That any musical theme related to this subject is judged by, approved of, to the extent that it matches the Ideal?
A weird thought. But maybe it's not as crazy as it sounds. Music stirs responses in people - certain types of music are designed to provoke certain responses. Given that music is thus related to a non-musical emotion, thought, or feeling is it not possible that the Ideal representation of a person or character combines those themes in a way that captures their essence?
-----
In other news, I'm going to be in North Carolina for a week, learning new and interesting words to curse the humidity with. But I plan to take my camera, not that a class for learning how to better interpret labor market data is expected to provide many scenic opportunities.
2 comments:
I say "yes," there is an ideal Superman song. The creator of Superman had some idea of Superman (which itself approximated an ideal, an ideal which he would have conceived and represented if he had the capacity). This Superman should evoke a certain response in people, and that response could be measured at a biological level.
Enter the brass. The music must also evoke a biological response in people. Now, if the creator of Superman had the capacity, he would know the response he most wanted to evoke from people from both Superman and the themesong, and he could quantify that response in biological terms. And then he could tweak either Superman or the song or in accordance with readings on a monitor that told him what precise response the person was actually having.
interesting concept! even moreso because i bought the "phantom of the opera" movie soundtrack this weekend, and while listening to the song "masquerade" on my way to work yesterday, at one point the music actually kind of took my breath and brought tears to my eyes. weird, i thought, because i don't even know the lyrics, and i'm pretty sure it's not meant to be an emotional song... but in my car, which is my favorite place to listen to music because i can turn it up as loud as i want, with the song being projected all around me, the beauty of the music itself just overwhelmed me... yea, i still thought it was kind of odd, but i can't deny the fact that certain pieces of music certainly seem to catch my breath when i hear them, especially when i've got it turned up so loud that i'm surrounded by the sounds. :)
by the way, have FUN in north carolina, and seriously, if you somehow have a chance to get up on the blue ridge parkway, DO IT!!!! :-D
Post a Comment