Musical and Social Meaning…part 3

Musical and Social Meaning…part 3

If indeed music can contain or always does contain signs, codes and/or symbols etc. that are actually imbedded in the music part of the music, they are very important to Christian musicians.  If as a part of the fabric of the music they convey real life meaning to the listener, understanding these signs, codes, symbols etc. is even more apropos to  understanding the emotional and psychological power of religious musicing.  Furthermore, if they are an unavoidable part of the music fabric, then the study of these phenomena that are woven into the music, will possibly give much greater insight into how they facilitate the understandable meaning that the music part of the music communicates to all who experience it.  Also, Christian musicians need to develop an awareness of the extra musical factors that surround the fabric of sacred music that some philosophers refer to as musical landscape.

          The theories about musical signs, symbols, codes etc. in the fabric of music are speculative, unproven hypotheses, as well as are the beliefs about how they communicate meaning that is socially and even musically understandable.  However, so are the theories that the music part of music is a closed system without the ability to communicate anything to the hearer that is understandable in terms of real life meaning.  For centuries music philosophers have written about the power that the music part of music has on the auditor.  The writings of music philosophers over many centuries has tended to be polarized into those who believe that music is emotive, has great power, and those who believe that it is a closed system incapable of transmitting any understandable meaning that is related to the world around us.