The Aesthetics of Music [Paperback]

Roger Scruton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 1999 | ISBN-10: 019816727X | ISBN-13: 978-0198167273

What is music, what is its value, and what does it mean? In this stimulating volume, Roger Scruton offers a comprehensive account of the nature and significance of music from the perspective of modern philosophy. The study begins with the metaphysics of sound. Scruton 7istinguishes sound from tone; analyzes rhythm, melody, and harmony; and explores the various dimensions of musical organization and musical meaning. Taking on various fashionable theories in the philosophy and theory of music, he presents a compelling case for the moral significance of music, its place in our culture, and the need for taste and discrimination in performing and listening to it. Laying down principles for musical analysis and criticism, this bold work concludes with a theory of culture--and a devastating demolition of modern popular music.

"A provocative new study."--The Guardian

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[This is] a work of philosophy at its most expansive, light-years removed from the logic-chopping of a generation ago...Scruton, in this ambitious work, has given us a masterly insight into the architecture of tonality and why its 'useless space' matters as a home of the human spirit."--The Times

"A provocative new study."--The Guardian

About the Author

Roger Scruton is a leading authority on aestheics, and has also published books on others aspects of philosophy, politics, literature, architecture, and modern culture. Currently a freelance writer and composer, he was previously a Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019816727X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198167273
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Formidable, engrossing, September 3, 2001

By 

A. Williamson "Arthur Williamson" (JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng SOUTH AFRICA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aesthetics of Music (Paperback)

That some readers (and reviewers) will object to Scruton's cultural critique is to be expected; after all, he doesn't shrink from the cultural, political, idealogical and moral implications of his carefully-argued aesthetic. Though you don't have to agree, you'll find his arguments engrossing and his knowledge of music formidable. The journey through his encyclopedic knowledge alone is worth the read. The basic idea that music powerfully both reflects and influences the soul and thus society is certainly not new (it's part of ancient wisdom). Scruton's contribution is to look at the processes, reasons and effects in the light of modern philosophy. Mercifully, he writes in an accessible prose. Though not essential to following his argument, a basic knowledge of music theory and ability to parse musical notation will add considerably to the enjoyment of this important book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New ears for old music, March 18, 2010

By 

John Ferngrove (Hants UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aesthetics of Music (Paperback)

Having read other Scruton titles I was initially rather discouraged when I realised that this was going to be a much tougher job of work than I had been looking for. I was hoping for a gentle introduction to aesthetics, a general survey or bluffer's guide, but instead I found it to be an earnest work of philosophy, including carefully developed arguments and theories of his own, in a field that would seem to have few, if any final answers. What I had also not anticipated was that Scruton's musical erudition would be on a par with his philosophical acuity, as the numerous examples and the penetrating analyses that accompany them, which he uses to illustrate his arguments attest. To be honest, I think I understood about 60% of the book, but have had my ears opened to new levels of musical understanding that have made the struggle eminently worthwhile. I have every intention of reading this book again one day, but want first to brush up on a bit more harmonic theory before I do, in order to get even more out of it the next time around. Mercifully, each chapter tends to examine a different aspect of the musical puzzle, so even when one chapter left me puzzled or confused, I could retain some hope of maybe better understanding the next. In fact, this is a rare example of a book that gets (a little bit) easier as it progresses.

Aside from pointing the way to a level of aesthetic apprehension I had not even glimpsed before, there are several aspects of music which Scruton has caused me to reconsider, there being two broad areas I can articulate with relative ease. Firstly, at the basic metaphysical level, my respect for the ineffability of our experience of music has been refreshed. That our cognitive faculties endow us with the capacity to find such depths of meaning and communicative intent in patterns of sound turns out to be one of those human intangibles that, like language or consciousness, becomes more mysterious the more closely we examine it.

Secondly, in more 'practical' aesthetic terms, I have been obliged to radically reappraise my concepts regarding tonality and atonality. I have a renewed understanding of what they are, what they each bring to the table, and what is lacking in the latter that must be made up for in 'less musical' ways, like extreme dynamics or timbre, if it is to be able to project form and structure. I had always held what I see now as a naive view, that tonality was there to be transcended. That one could train oneself through `sufficient' listening to 'comprehend' ever more extreme departures from the world of tonality. I'm still considering Scruton's arguments, but their implication is that atonality can only ever really be a style or fashion, and that where it works best, or even at all, it has to rely on ways of hearing that were initially acquired by our common experiences of tonality. This has had a direct impact on my listening in that I have a new respect and admiration for composers of the late romantic era, particularly Brahms and Tchaikovsky, that I have always ignored until now, in favour of more modernistic composers. It has also helped me to put my finger on the growing suspicion that, while I have always had a bit more of a taste for dissonance than is typical, I only really enjoy dissonance when it is rooted, even if to a minimal degree, in some kind of tonality. I have accepted at last that pure atonality does nothing for me. It turns out I'm not quite as modern as I thought, but then I'm OK with that.

This is a demanding but profoundly rewarding book if you have the musical background required to engage with it.

20 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books ever written on Music, October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Aesthetics of Music (Hardcover)

No one seriously interested in Music will regret reading this. Why does music move us? Scruton helps us to an even stronger appreciation and enjoyment of Music. (Also look out for his new book on Foxhunting.)