Is Musical Style Involved in Communicating Meaning? Part 3

 

Is Musical Style Involved in Communicating Meaning?  Part 3

Berglund also touched on another concept that is particularly germane to the discussion of appropriateness of church music with his mention of style implications.  We all recognize music by its style. Style recognition involves the communication of auditory musical information incorporated in instrumental and or vocal tones that are systematically distinguishable to the listener.  This auditory information is communicated to the listener from the structured execution of a particular music.  Thus it becomes recognizable as a particular musical style.  Robert Berglund believes that,”…it is through musical style that music assumes much of its meaning to the listeners.  Certainly in vocal music concrete meaning is arrived at by texts.  But as far as music is concerned, meaning, both concrete and abstract, designative, and embodied, is generally arrived at through style.  In other words, as people are aware of style and its implications through conditioning and psychological associations along with their intuitions, music assumes meaning.” A Philosophy of Church Music by Robert Berglund p. 22.

                Music finds its place in the multiplicity of style classifications by  how it presents itself.  All music has purpose and that purpose causes it to take on stylistic characteristics that are the means of communicating its meaning to the listener.  Every astute composer desires to draw the listener into the emotion and meaning expressed in the music.  For this reason, a Christian musician must become familiar with just what the music part of a particular style of music is attempting to communicate to the auditor.