Reading notes on what understanding music is.

1. What attracted me to this book at first? It can probably be summarized as such a question:

How is it possible for a person who doesn't know professional music knowledge at all to know music?

At the beginning of the book, it says, "If you only feel music without thinking about the concert, you will lose the essence of music, and if you think about music without feeling it, you will lose the soul of music."

Combined with my feelings and thoughts in listening to music for so many years, I personally agree with this view. This is also the reason why I can talk a lot when I study less.

The author said: "Understanding music does not depend on whether you can identify the first theme or the seventh chord in the score, but on whether you can have a keen, appropriate, strong and delicate psychological induction to the actual music."

For music, we all have some feelings in metropolis, but the depth and span are different, so what we feel is very different from what we know.

There are some feelings about listening to songs in the book, which are simply exquisite.

"Music should actually be such a heavy gift, not a light tidbit. If we don't just regard music as the decorative background of life, but are willing to take the time to face music and then set foot in it wholeheartedly, then we are using our own life experience to find the meaning of life in music. This "meaning" is often difficult to describe, but it is meaningful; It's elusive, but it's true. It can't be expressed in written language, can't be translated into visible visual images, and can't be summarized as abstract explanations in theory. Only through a specific voice, can you grasp it again and again in the listener's mind. There is a wonderful word in Chinese called "heartfelt wishes"-it seems that "heartfelt wishes" can't be translated into straightforward "spiritual voices", which will destroy the poetry contained in the word "heartfelt wishes". We might as well regard "sound" as the kind of induction and feeling deep in people's hearts, and it is the most mysterious place in the universe. Music should be the loud "voice" of people and the world. From this perspective, listening to music and appreciating music means listening to the "heart".

Second, how do professionals generally listen? Let's have a look.

"For professionals and fanatical fans, listening to music is an important thing and must be taken seriously. Receiving systematic "listening training", from the primary pitch discrimination and rhythm imitation to the later harmony discrimination, work analysis and music appreciation, is generally to sharpen the ear and make it a real aesthetic organ. "

"Background, environment, style attribution, genre type, composer's personal hobby, contract object, performance resource limitation and all other conditions that may affect music writing are all peripheral supports that scholars are unwilling to let go when listening to songs. Therefore, it is an essential "warm-up preparation" to watch the program before the concert, or browse the music instructions while listening to the records. Although these knowledge reserves about music cannot change the work itself, the listener's psychological formula and auditory expectation will be subtly adjusted, which may have a great impact on music appreciation. "

Here, perhaps we should pay attention to these two words: psychological formula and auditory expectation.

We can ask ourselves, what can we do without psychological set and auditory expectation? I'm afraid there are both, so maybe we can discuss more deeply whether we get different results when our psychological model and auditory expectation are different, or whether we have different feelings about the same result.

Third, some opinions about music.

"In my opinion, music, by its nature, can't express anything at all, whether it's an emotion, a mental state, a psychological emotion or a natural phenomenon ... performance has never been the essence of music. Performance is by no means the purpose of music. Even if music seems to express something (always), it is only an illusion, not a reality. "

This is what Stravinsky said, which is enough to ruin the three views. Nothing can be expressed, so what is the music for, to stimulate people's nerves? Does this concert belong to physiology (I will ruin it, too)

But there is another paragraph:

What is particularly noteworthy here is that he completely refuses music to "express" non-musical things. Music itself. So, is music just an empty "sound game" and a meaningless "formal game"? As a master composer whose works are recognized as "unique expressive force", Shi certainly doesn't think so. In this way, on the one hand, history firmly maintains the high seriousness of music, on the other hand, it categorically denies the external performance of music.

Music is music, nothing else. This philosophical proposition is too complicated. Think for yourself. However, everyone doesn't have to think about music, just think about themselves: how will I exist?

In order to reveal the profound content of human nature, art can be unpleasant (and therefore sublime).

Beethoven's late works all have such texture, and the extreme is of course the "extremely ugly" fugue (Op. 133).

Kant's aesthetic thought directly predicted the modern art with ugliness as beauty in the twentieth century.

Heidegger pointed out in his famous paper The Origin of Works of Art that "art is the generation and occurrence of truth".

Art has therefore become one of the most fundamental ways for human beings to grasp the world and know themselves. Therefore, art (including music) can only be compared with literature, philosophy and history if it has the qualification of culture, and become a "humanistic" phenomenon, which deserves our painstaking efforts.

Music, like all other history, is experiencing difficulties and often faces embarrassing situations.

The musician was banished from heaven, naked, wide-eyed, confused, trying to determine his position and struggling to take a step.

Rachmaninov is willing to be a die-hard conservative and stick to the traditional position of tonality and melody;

Sibelius coldly refused radical experiments, but completely reformed music with unique syntax and voice.

Scriabin stepped into a dangerous and steep road, trying to make music naturally by hand;

Debussy abandoned the strong mainstream tradition and found a way out in the mysterious images of the Far East and ancient times.

Schoenberg firmly believed in the logic and inevitability of German-Austrian music, so he struggled painfully between inner instinct and historical commitment.

Bartok dimly realized that the energy exhaustion of the music world can only be saved by healthy folk nutrients;

In the distant new world, Ives is destroying the strict boundary between artistic music and real life with the frankness and boldness peculiar to Americans. ...

Looking at this history is scary enough, although I don't understand it.

Just like reading history books, sometimes we have a boiling passion, sometimes we sigh, sometimes we are sad, but we don't really understand it.

Fourthly, talk about Mr Xinfeng's later years.

Mr. Xin Fengnian is an outsider of music. In the article "Philharmonic Orchestra", he specifically talked about his hobby of finding and reading music scores because of his obsession with music: "I know that ordinary people can't understand music well, but I don't want to listen to the melody beauty of mono." Especially modern music with complex harmony, polyphony and orchestration, with the help of music scores, we can live up to the author's hard work and gain greater benefits. New World is the easiest symphony to understand. But people who have heard it many times may not be able to find out all the polyphony hidden in every voice. If you don't understand all this, how can you appreciate the power and beauty of the "stereo" of symphony thinking? Reading music and helping the poor with vision can help you learn to accept the information of multi-voice music with' multi-channel' hearing. "This is a palace-level fan.

Of course, there is another interesting thing. I remember doing such a thing when I was a child. I just got a book and thought it was really big enough. Then what?

Xin Lao's enthusiastic book review (Brilliant and Eloquence Polyphony) truly said, "The newly published full translation of Music in Western Civilization, with 16 volumes and 700 pages, weighs five kilograms (I can't help but weigh it on the scale), which is heavy and surprising." I remember when I was in primary school, about grade two or three, my father gave me a modern Chinese dictionary. I was so surprised by such a big book that I insisted that my father weigh me: 520 yuan weighs a kilo.

Fifthly, the analysis of China's music grading system.

In the Han culture in China, the types of music can be roughly divided into three completely different levels.

First, the political etiquette "Elegant Music" is located in the orthodox center of the "official", which has been highly valued by the palaces of past dynasties and enjoyed the glory of entering the official history, but it has little influence on the daily music life outside the palace;

Secondly, the so-called "folk music" originated from the people, melted into folk customs, and spread to the general public. Although it came from humble origins, it is lively and agile, which is inseparable from the pronunciation and intonation, personality and temperament, and local customs of people all over the Han nationality.

Thirdly, the "literati music", which has an indissoluble bond with the unique phenomenon of "scholar-bureaucrat" in China, takes "Qin music" as a symbol, pays attention to the interest of "righteousness and harmony", pursues the realm of "quietness", and its spiritual connotation is highly personalized.

Sixth, talk about chamber music.

In the participation of chamber music, each player is independent, equal and interdependent. From each according to his ability, but never in his own way; Each does his own thing, but by no means does his own thing. It seems that the communication between real gentlemen is harmonious but different.

Composers wrote that they must take pains to control the independence and mutual balance of each voice;

Performers should always pay attention to the unity and change of tone and tone in each phrase;

A confidant listens, and only when he appreciates the originality and aura of composers and performers can he participate in this silent conversation.

Chamber music is based on exquisiteness. But this exquisiteness is by no means complicated decoration or deliberate carving, it comes from a calm heart and calm brushwork. Words have substance, a thousand words count, and you dare not bluff.

Think carefully, say carefully, the lyrics of chamber music are just outside Miri, Malaysia.

Chamber music is good at lyricism. Composers pour their hearts into chamber music, so their musical thoughts are often circuitous and their brushwork is often meticulous. Different from the common great sadness and great joy, the lyric of chamber music is indifferent to water, which means long-distance love, but it is more refreshing.

Seven. Music review

Capturing music with words is actually "dangerous". Notes and words, sound and language, two kinds of expression media, each follow different logic and norms. "The end of language is the beginning of music", a well-known old saying, broke the helplessness of language in front of music.

Therefore, it can be understood why in professional papers, the interpretation of music is mostly based on "dry and cold" structural-technical analysis as "authentic"; Language often "shuns" music, and writing based on historical background information replaces the concern for the ontology of music works;

However, many music appreciation articles of fans are full of strong feelings, fancy words and imaginative associations, but they seem to deviate from the real "object" of music.

As a result, the most extreme "philosophy of cancellation" was triggered in the relationship between words and music: it originated from the famous "Law of Proverbs" of the Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein-"Everything that can be said can be clearly stated; And everything that cannot be said should be silent. "

Do you want to be silent? Anyway, I am not silent, whether he is right or not!

Eight, some music books

1. A rare masterpiece in the history of music culture-Paul? Henry. Lang's masterpiece Music in Western Civilization,

The author "Lang" has profound skills. First, he is broad-minded and knowledgeable. He talked about western "literature, history and philosophy" and "politics, economy and law" as well as religion, society and customs. Secondly, he has incisive personal views on music, and often has the accuracy and pleasure of "hitting the nail on the head".

2. Spita's Biography of Bach, Thayer's Biography of Beethoven and Albert's Biography of Mozart are all masterpieces of the emperor, in which the interpretation of biographical characters and the understanding of biographical works by later generations are integrated and inseparable.

3. American philosopher Peter? The Chinese Translation of Kivi's Pure Music: Philosophical Thinking on Music Experience. I feel both positive and negative. This book still has many positive meanings. Because of the tradition of analytical philosophy, the clarity, logic and meticulousness of the author's view and discussion of problems are particularly worth learning from Chinese people. The definition of any concept, term and category in the book is extremely accurate and never vague. Although it is sometimes cumbersome, it is very effective for clearing up ideas and promoting thinking.

4. Exploring in Music and Society-Dialogue between barenboim and Said. Pasteur is a famous conductor and pianist in the western world, but he is by no means a "one-dimensional" artist who only knows music scores. Saskatchewan is a famous American cultural critic and an intellectual (famous for criticizing the "Orientalism" in the West), but he is also a veteran fan who plays the piano very well. The conversation between the two people centered on music and touched many social issues, which really sparked a lot.

At the end of the conversation, I feel that the differences between them are actually getting bigger and bigger, especially for the rapidly commercialized and mobile society, how music and artistic culture in a broad sense have an urgent spiritual immediacy. Pasteur seems to take it for granted that art should provide a utopian ideal, solve contradictions and form unity. However, Saskatchewan insists that art should be prickly and targeted, which is a kind of resistance, from which the social function of culture can be reflected.

5. Introduction to Global Classical Songs includes biographies of relevant composers, writing background and overall characteristics of relevant works, relevant historical background and humanistic knowledge, and introductions of relevant performing artists. The intention of this is obvious: I hope that when listening to music, the audience can take a book and put the relevant writers and works in the relevant historical context and cultural environment to read easily, so as to seek a "cultural listening" with more rational depth and knowledge dimension. As a result, the concept of "improvement" permeates the popularization of music, and culture and education run through in a "leisure" way.

6. Stravinsky, in his mature middle age (1939), delivered a famous speech at Harvard University-Six Lectures on Music Poetics. Although the space is not long, it has a prominent position. This is not only because of the importance of Shi himself, but also because the book is generally regarded as a typical representative of the "formalism aesthetics" of music in the twentieth century. At the same time, due to the sharpness and extremes of his arguments and expressions, the views in the book continue to arouse subsequent repercussions until today, causing controversy to future generations.

7. The author of Mending Cracks: The Modernity Crisis and Postmodern Situation of Music (hereinafter referred to as Mending Cracks) is Hewitt.

Hewitt, as a senior composer, music critic and music activist, started with the internal texture of music and comprehensively applied the complex path of sociology, art philosophy, music history, music aesthetics, music criticism and cultural criticism when analyzing this crisis, thus obtaining an effective pathological diagnosis.

8. The Cambridge Illustrated Music Guide basically objectively introduces the basic composition and development process of western music in a straightforward tone and style. Sadie wrote in the preface with restraint: "I don't want to claim that this book is a book about understanding and appreciating music, nor do I want to claim that it is a music history, but I might as well call it a book' close to' the history of music." Because this book adds three chapters about the basic knowledge of music (elements, instruments and structure of music) and one chapter about the overview of pop music, its content is beyond the scope of ordinary music history.

9. The life of a great composer. This book is a popular book written by Harold C. Schonberg, a famous American music critic and The New York Times music editor (this "music critic" Schoenberg has nothing to do with his "composer"). The Chinese translation was taken over by a heavyweight authoritative publishing house like Beijing Sanlian (2007 edition, 1), although it was far from the so-called "academic depth".

Keep it, in case you get old, you want to have a good look!