Abstract
Meaningful expression emerges only when there is an intention—the focusing of the consciousness on the object of interpretation (the work). A work exists insofar as it exists in relation to the person who interprets it (A. Maceina). Music is an art deserving of pity: verses, if they are printed, already live; but a printed composition is still not music: it is necessary to reproduce it, to intone it (B. Asaf’ev). The book highlights the qualities required for the act of interpretation, which is the only path to meaningful expression. Intertextuality: the world is a text and everything has already been said. So, it is only possible to create something new by composing from previously known elements (I. Melnikova): the text is “a new tissue of old quotations” (R. Barthes). The experience stored by the interpreter is enriched by new experiences: interpretive activity is striving for an increasingly effective result. When we see something, we must think something in order to see anything (H. Gadamer): we reach the truth through thinking. It is important to have a soul which loves truth, and receives it wherever it finds it (J. W. von Goethe).
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Meaningful expression emerges only when there is an intention—a motive—to pursue it. This intention—the focusing of the consciousness on the object of interpretation (the work) and on the perception of its structural relations—enhances the intensity and effectiveness of that action.
The meaning of a work can only be expressed through an interpretive act. “A work exists as a work insofar as it exists in relation to the person who is to know it, that is, the subject who interprets it.”Footnote 1 In the practice of performers, unfortunately, an inert tradition prevails, based on an artisan’s approach to the art of performance, which rather should be a creative and personal act that is to become an interpretation, with all the inherent and requisite attributes which have been discussed in this book.
All the topics discussed here, in my opinion, highlight the psychological and professional qualities, interests and abilities required to create the valuable base of experience which must underpin the act of interpretation; and this is the only path to meaningful expression, which is the critical goal of the being of the musical work, and at the same time, the goal of the professional expression of the performer-interpreter. “Indeed, music is an art deserving of pity. A painted picture can live in a museum or in any room; verses, if they are printed, already live; but a printed composition—sheet music—is still not music; it is necessary to reproduce it, to intone it; instruments and performers are necessary.”Footnote 2 This is why the words “intonation” and “interpretation” have been mentioned so often, so that, through the use of authoritative sources close to my own value-based convictions, the importance of these actions for the emergence of meaningful expression would be well-founded.
“The concept of intertextuality has become the sign of perceiving the world and oneself for the modern human, who understands the world as a text and thinks that everything has already been said somewhere before and that it is only possible to create something new by following the principle of mosaics—by composing from previously known elements (according to Roland Barthes, the text is ‘a new tissue of old quotations’). Thus, the phenomenon referred to as intertextuality is in the broadest sense nothing other than the interaction of one’s own and another’s word or a dialogue between texts.”Footnote 3 The experience stored by the interpreter, when it encounters new informational impulses, is enriched by new experiences, and this offers additional powers for other interpretive presentations. Interpretive activity is a dynamic action, striving for an increasingly effective and convincing result.
“Progress means […] the gradual control of matter by mind [the spirit].”Footnote 4 Accessing the spirit of the interpreted works also allows us to find the means to express that spirit, but “when we see something, we must think something in order to see anything.”Footnote 5 Because we reach the truth through thinking. A human is a thinking being with a will and feelings. Hence, as Goethe said, “What is important is to have a soul which loves truth, and receives it wherever it finds it.”Footnote 6
Notes
- 1.
Maceina, Filosofijos kilmė ir prasmė [The Origin and Meaning of Philosophy], 195.
- 2.
Asaf’ev, Musical Form, 3:721n (translation amended).
- 3.
Melnikova, Intertekstualumas [Intertextuality], 5.
- 4.
Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 234.
- 5.
Gadamer, The Relevance of the Beautiful, 29.
- 6.
Johann P. Eckermann, Conversations of Goethe With Eckermann And Soret: In Two Volumes, vol. 2, tr. John Oxenford (London: Smith, Elder, 1850), 109.
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Rimas, J., Rimas Jr, J. (2024). In Lieu of Conclusions. In: Etudes on the Philosophy of Music. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63965-4_28
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