Is Music a Language?—part 6
Giving the music part of music a label that is
inclusive of all that it “is” and is capable of doing to the whole-life of the
individuals who encounter it is problematic. However, I believe that music, as
an art form, is “meta” and the term metalanguage may
be used, more or less effectively, to explain that music is characteristically
self-referential in that it has power within itself to communicate
understandable meaning to the performer and the auditor.
So, as I have mentioned in my writings and lectures many
times, music is at least analogous to a language in that it is capable of
communicating meaning and that the meaning it communicates is understandable to
those who encounter it. Although the
music part of music i.e. music alone does not communicate verbally, it does
non-verbally, and that since the time of Plato and Aristotle, various music
philosophers have contended that music’s communication has the power to effect
the whole- life of everyone who encounters it. Furthermore, the notion that the
music part of music is not capable of communicating anything at all is a
Johnny-come-lately theory that is not supported with conclusive evidence that
music is a weak and benign art form without any ability to communicate anything
at all, or that it has its own meaning that does not relate to life outside of
music’s closed bubble.
Thought for the Day
Regardless of which side of the debate over whether or not music
is a language every Christian musician must come to grips with music’s power.
