Is Music a Language? Part 1

                                            Is Music a language? Part 1         

       We are beginning a five part series on this topic.  If you are not familiar with my blog you should be advised that there is no attempt to draw each post to definite conclusions.  Therefore, you will need to read any posts in the series that you have missed before continuing.
       Certainly we are not going to solve the age old argument of whether music is a language, a meta-language or no language at all.  Most music philosophers agree that music does not communicate explicitly like spoken language.  Music does not say what it means distinctly in a well-defined manner.  The music part of music i.e. music without words cannot say “It’s raining outside” or" It is 27degrees fahrenheit outside".  However, the fact that music does not function exactly like a language, does not prove that it does not transmit a message to the auditor.

            Music philosophers who are formalistic generally believe that “Music’s beauty, its essential nature, and its highest value are things that are music’s and music’s alone...”5  The referentialists position is that music’s meaning must have connection to meanings outside of music.  Symbolists believe that music’s symbols are objects used to represent abstract insight into an understanding of the nature of human feeling.

            As may be seen from the views just mentioned, music’s way of “knowing” and communicating that knowledge is essentially different depending on one’s philosophical view.  Some who believe that music is a closed system will tend to believe that music has its own agenda i.e. that the significance that music is not related in any way to life in general.  Others who consider music to be a closed system believe that music symbols reveal the significance of human feeling which is in no way related to what the performer or auditor brings to musicing or music listening.  The philosophical views of non-referentialists all tend to either be or to have the propensity to become autonomous philosophical views. 

            If you have read very much of what I have placed in this blog since January of this year, you know that I am always skeptical of any philosophy that is autonomous.  I believe that all truth is a congruent truth.  There is no aspect of what I call true truth that is a closed system or a law to itself.  Furthermore, I believe that no musician has the right to develop an autonomous music view and therefore a law to himself.  I believe that all music philosophy  must submit to the lordship of Christ.     

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5 Bowman, pg.194