What
is music? In his original 1826 dictionary, Webster defined music as “melody or
harmony; any succession of sounds so modulated as to please the ear, or any
combination of simultaneous sounds in accordance or harmony. Music is vocal or
instrumental.” A secondary definition describes it as “the art of combining
sounds in a manner to please the ear. This is practical music or composition.”
Is
Webster’s definition one that stands the tests of time? Or is it possible that
methods of composition or manners of listening could change in generations
following Webster that could stretch and even alter the true sense of what
actually defines music?
This
week we’ll hit on a few 20th-century composers and musical theories
that stretched Webster’s perception of what constitutes music. After exploring
these composers and their works, I’ll be curious whether or not you hold true
to music as defined by Webster or whether your beliefs gravitate toward a more
modern approach.
Early
20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg is one example of a composer
who began to redefine what some may consider music. An advocate of atonality, a
term used to describe music that avoids a tonal center, and the twelve-tone
method, a form of atonality based on various orderings of the twelve notes in the
chromatic scale, Schoenberg was rejected by many while others found his
theoretical approach fascinating.
Schoenberg’s Piano Suite is an example of his twelve-tone method. Give it a listen and let
me know…do you still consider this music? Is it on an equal plain with
Beethoven, Berlioz, or Brahms? Or do you consider it an interesting concept but
not something you desire to listen to? Webster says music “please[s] the ear.”
Do you agree?
