I believe somewhat
like Leonard B. Meyer who wrote the book Emotion and Meaning in Music that
the meaning that comes from music will tend to have at least some connection to
meaning which is found outside of the formal properties of the music. I believe that all musicing i.e. “doing” and
listening to music is affected somewhat by the references one brings to the
great art of music from the world outside of music. I also believe that although some of music’s
meaning is intellectual (cerebral), some of its meaning is emotional (aroused
from the sounds).
Those who believe that music’s essential nature, its
essential meaning, and its real value are musics and musics alone will most
often not admit that any of this meaning is imported from the world around us,
because they believe that music is a closed system. I do not believe any of the above theories
because, although I am not a strict referentialist by definition, I do believe
that association from the outside world does affect the music we listen to and
perform. Although a Christian musician
can and should learn from the major schools of music philosophy, he or she does
not have to align his or her music philosophy with any of them. A Christian musician does not have to swallow
the tenants of one or all of the various schools of music philosophy “hook line
and sinker” in order to develop a congruent Bible based music philosophy.
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