Absolute Music: instrumental music composed purely as music, and not intended to represent or illustrate something else (Google).
So the point of absolute music is to just... be? it expresses being moved but doesn't need to be identified? Absolute music is 'flattened', there is no higher mystery to it - but this is, what I suppose, makes it 'absolute'. If there is no purpose for the music, why do we still like it? Is it because of the way it can make us feel?
I went to YouTube and looked up instrumental absolute music and found this..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfGUXfW8OM
there's no words, no purpose, but after I listened to it I felt calm. I actually wanted to do some yoga. So if it has no purpose, why do I feel, in a way, at peace?
I am giving the music meaning because of the way it makes me feel, so is it still absolute? Is this song even truly 'absolute music'?
Absolute music is taking away the enchantment out of music, but I still feel kind of spiritual.
Taylor says that this ^ could be 'entirely anthropological'. This brings us back to the 'buffered self" - that our unwillingness to leave things the way they are reflects the cosmic imaginary - 'the struggle to articulate the new moral meanings in nature.' we struggle to recover something deeper, fuller, that requires a higher, creative power.
Does this post make since? I tend to confuse myself with this kind of stuff.
I think I know what you are trying to say. Music in a lot of ways, Instrumental or lyrical can make us think in a deep sense. Taylor talks about how humans struggle now to find a connection to a higher power now unlike those in the 15th and 16th centuries. In ways, I envy Native Americans and the way they see symbolism in items that are special to them. They cherish little things in their lives and find meaning in things people in America do not meaning in. They still believe in a higher power but people in a modern age are more questioning and do not have belief in higher powers. I think it helps us find meaning in our lives to find significance in little things to strengthen our faith.
ReplyDeleteYES! Thank you for expanding!
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