The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Deryck Cooke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 1990 | Series: Clarendon Paperbacks

First published in 1959, this original study argues that the main characteristic of music is that it expresses and evokes emotion, and that all composers whose music has a tonal basis have used the same, or closely similar, melodic phrases, harmonies, and rhythms to affect the listener in the same ways. He supports this view with hundreds of musical examples, ranging from plainsong to Stravinsky, and contends that music is a language in the specific sense that we can identify idioms and draw up a list of meanings. The book's final section analyzes two symphonies, Mozart's Fortieth and Vaughan Williams's Sixth, to explore the nature of musical inspiration and the process whereby the notes actually convey emotion from composer to listener.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most important publications of post-war English musicography...its honesty, its individualism, and its empiricism reflect the best intellectual traditions of English literature."--Music and Letters

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 8, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198161808
• ISBN-13: 978-0198161806
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging Read ! ! !, October 18, 2000

By 

Eddie Landsberg "My 10th year as a reviewer !... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

What gives music its meaning... is music akin to pure mathematics, to language... how do composers use forms and sounds to convey emotions, pictures and ideas and what are the basic idioms that are used to express those ideas in western music ?

When the book was first suggested to me, based on theme, I was expecting something "wishy washy" and not too keen on it, but for some reason I decided to give it a go, since it touches on one of my areas of reasearch. In the end it turned out to be one of those books that really got the old nogen brewing - - a book that sometimes you have to put down because it really gets your brain going or that if you read it before bedtime, you might wake up at 3:00 AM thinking about stuff he said ! - - Musicians as well as music lovers will appreciate it. You'll need to brush up on (or learn) basic music theory, however, it will be worth the effort... it might even change the way you hear your favorite symphony or music in general forever !

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book by a distinguished musicologist, March 11, 2000

By 

David Benson "dave_benson" (Aberdeen) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This wonderful little book explains how the basic elements of musical expression communicate emotional content, both locally and on a larger scale. Highly recommended to anyone trying to understand how music works.

Deryck Cooke is the person who orchestrated Mahler's tenth symphony, starting with Mahler's original draft. Take a listen to the excellent Bournemouth Symphony/Simon Rattle recording.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stimulating, but disappointing, March 29, 2007

By 

Frank Mattins - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Cooke raises THE fundamental question of music--what does music mean?--but his technique seems a little flawed.

First, he assumes that music has a universal meaning. Yet no two people will have exactly the same reaction to a piece of music, even if they like it. It's therefore a little hard to accept his collections of musically emotive examples as altogether valid, though they are impressive enough.

Second, anyone who has brushed around in music theory enough can tell you that if you want to find a certain pattern in a piece of music, you will find it if you look hard enough. And since Cooke only uses about four or five examples to "prove" each point, the possibility of these being the lucky five examples (with multiple exceptions) makes me skeptical. And one's not really sure whether Cooke is implying that his emotive musical phrases always work, or just work some of the time.

Basically, it's impossible to deconstruct how great composers think, in the manner that Cooke attempts. If you don't believe me, try writing music according to the emotive principles he proposes. You won't create anything nearly as good as the music he discusses unless you already have some talent. And the composers' talent, in Cooke, seems to be reduced to their ability to employ the musical phrases he considers emotional.

At the same time, I never thought about the issue of musical meaning very clearly until I read Cooke. Even though I disagree with his approach and his conclusions, reading his book made understand why I think about musical meaning the way I do. A must for students of musical philosophy.