Heteronomist School

One of the central questions in the philosophy of music is whether music can represent.  As late as 1790, the dominant philosophical view of music was that it was incapable of conveying ideas, but by the time that E.T.A Hoffman reviewed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in 1810, this view was rejected (Bonds, 2006).  Nowadays most philosophers of music agree that it is representational, and are concerned with how musical representations are possible (Kivy, 1991; Meyer, 1956; Robinson, 1994, 1997; Sparshoot, 1994; Walton, 1994).  The heteronomist school is a school of musical aesthetics that is founded on studying the relations between musical structures and the emotions they produce, and is opposed to the autonomist school which argues that music does not convey messages, emotional or otherwise (Hanslick, 1854/1957).

How do composers convey intended emotions or meanings with their music?  One answer is by using the conventions of particular musical forms.  Such forms provide a structure that generates expectations, expectations that are often presumed to be shared by the audience.  The extent to which the audience’s expectations are toyed with, and ultimately fulfilled, can manipulate its emotion.  These manipulations can be described completely in terms of the structure of musical elements (Meyer, 1956).  In this sense, the formalist’s motto also applies to classical music as traditionally conceived.

References:

1. Bonds, M. E. (2006). Music As Thought: Listening To The Symphony In The Age Of Beethoven. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
2. Hanslick, E. (1854/1957). The Beautiful In Music. New York: Liberal Arts Press.
3. Kivy, P. (1991). Sound And Semblance: Reflections On Musical Representation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
4. Meyer, L. B. (1956). Emotion and Meaning in Music. [Chicago]: University of Chicago Press.
5. Robinson, J. (1994). The expression and arousal of emotion in music. In P. Alperson (Ed.), Musical Worlds: New Directions In The Philosophy Of Music (pp. 13-22). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
6. Robinson, J. (1997). Music And Meaning. Ithaca [N.Y.]: Cornell University Press.
7. Sparshoot, F. (1994). Music and feeling. In P. Alperson (Ed.), Musical Worlds: New Directions In The Philosophy Of Music (pp. 23-36). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
8. Walton, K. (1994). Listening with imagination: Is music representational? In P. Alperson (Ed.), Musical Worlds: New Directions In The Philosophy Of Music (pp. 47-62). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

(Added November 2010)