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Document Details : Title: Klanken, tranen en kamelen: wegen om niet te volgen Subtitle: De muziekfilosofie van Patricia de Martelaere Author(s): DE MUNCK, Marlies Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie Volume: 86 Issue: 1 Date: 2024 Pages: 79-91 DOI: 10.2143/TVF.86.1.3293624 Abstract : Patricia de Martelaere wrote two essays about music. In the first, she defended a strictly formalist position by arguing against both the representation and expression theories of music. She argued against these theories, because in her view, on the one hand, music is by its very nature unable to represent; on the other hand, music that tries to do so — ‘program music’ — is of inferior quality. Fifteen years later, when she discusses Schopenhauer’s philosophy of music, De Martelaere seems to retract somewhat from that stringent formalist position. Although she still opposes programmatic and sentimental interpretations of music, she now presents music as a more expressive, even slightly mystical medium. But she remains silent about what music could actually express. This essay therefore explores how De Martelaere’s music philosophy might have developed further. Perhaps her interest in the Tao would have helped her formulate an answer to the question of the meaning of music. But would she have supported John Cage’s Zen-inspired view that music means nothing at all? And could she escape the conclusion that music must dissolve into sounds, or even evaporate into complete silence? In light of contemporary sound art and its commercial spin-offs, this essay suggests that she might have been more critical of the possible consequences of an overly rigorous formalism in music. |
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