music = history

In order to grasp the actual essence of music in addition to the usual musicological definitions, its reason - i.e. its actual cause - should be expanded by looking at it from a broader perspective. The anthropological view is usually relatively clear-cut and likes to relate instrument findings to our human ability to describe sound events as music and to distinguish them from noises. This link is of course understandable and only logical from a scientific point of view, but it is somewhat restrictive. I would like to explain this briefly and deliberately open up another sphere of music.

The consideration of the possible origins of music can also be detached from our current understanding of it. In general, the question of the origins of music is an incredibly difficult one to answer. The desire to ever be able to date it will remain unfulfilled, and that is all too understandable. After all, music is as much a part of us as our breathing, our heartbeat and the rhythm of our lives in general. So the question of the age of music fades into the background and is superseded by the question of the cause or reason. So why do we need music?

Music as a tool

The body of music, or rather its actual inner organization, is relatively easy to define. We distinguish between elements such as harmony, rhythm and melody, thus giving it a form whose interacting elementary structure can be described and observed by us. Of course, this is only a sub-area that should enable us to grasp music in the conventional way. Regardless of this, however, music has a much more complex form than we might expect. It has a force connecting the large building blocks that cannot be easily visualized, at least not before the invention of the electrocardiogram (ECG for short).

Now I would like to invite you to try a thought experiment

In our imagination, the music business as we know it does not exist, so there is no reason to make music in order to earn money or make a living from it. No streaming, no concerts and no stars who break each other's records every year. We try to see music as a mystical part of our lives. It can be medicine, it acts as a bonding agent to unite thousands of people and it lets us experience the subconscious. It is not only there to make our time in the elevator more pleasant. We are trying to free this phenomenon from its restrictive framework and return it to its true meaning. Of those aspects that may now remain, I would like to choose what I consider to be a special one in order to explore the still open question of the origin of music.

In the case of music, inspiration is an extremely exciting matter. Music has a special quality. It touches us constantly, precisely because most of the time it exists exclusively within us. It only manifests itself very briefly, not like a picture or a statue. It disappears before our eyes and ears and takes up a place in our soul or heart. When we hear it again, we are filled with emotion.

(In the course of my musical career, I have often sung to old people in hospitals. The listeners would sometimes ask for special songs or come back after the concert and talk about their feelings and the fond memories they associated with one piece or another).

So music is like a time machine and not only that, it has the power to link feelings and memories and carry them across time. It is therefore not only a language and the result of an agreement, but also a tool and aid to depict the world within us and around us. Thus, its habitat and origin is probably not only to be found in us, but also to the same extent in our environment. The Platonic dialog “Ion ”*, which deals with inspiration, may seem incomplete and perhaps even satirical in Goethe's eyes. However, the fundamental question of the source of music is extremely important. By trying to fathom it, aspects of music are revealed that might not be associated with it at first. Thus the actual form of this phenomenon is one that is not only linked to our nature and our development, no, it also depicts these in an incredible wealth of detail. The difficulty is not to disturb this process of illustration and subsequent interpretation. If you take this vehicle and let it wither away, it also affects an essential part of our human soul.

* A good summary of this dialog (IOS) can be found on Wikipedia. I first came across the text during my studies and it is not uncontroversial, but absolutely worth reading.

time travel

Music gives us the opportunity to complete our own picture of history and to better understand ourselves as human beings because we intuitively depict the world as it is and how we perceive it in music. The music of the Middle Ages, for example, is clearly structured and the church modes dominate. Triadic harmony had not yet been developed, and centuries of history, shaped by the geocentric view of the world and the relationship between the individual and the general, as well as the influence of religion and the resulting demands, can be clearly experienced in the music of this period. The clear system of the Middle Ages for explaining the world will have an influence on compositions for almost a thousand years. In the broadest sense, we see the stars moving around our earth in round concentric circles* when we listen to music from this period. It allows us to immerse ourselves in a past reality that takes on new life through music.

* This extremely elegant and catchy mental trick was also given to me during my studies and has stayed with me all my life. I do not know the source for this.

Change

The change to the heliocentric view of the world, the slow transition from harmonies of fifths and fourths to thirds and sixths, as well as the development of major and minor, i.e. our common triadic harmony, are evidence of a different way of looking at people and their changing world. The individual, emotions and the position of nature are significant elements that have permanently changed music and the way it is depicted. The world that was now to be depicted became more and more complicated, as did the description of the human being. The soul came more and more to the fore and we once again used music to enter into correspondence with it. Large concert halls were built next to churches, and people no longer only praised the divine, but also the earthly. Powerful orchestras, choirs and ensembles perform ever more complex pieces of music, and music is given a variety of powers. Access to music is becoming ever easier and we are turning our living rooms into music halls that deliver everything we want at any time.

Admittedly very abbreviated, I would like to make an essential point: music was and is an indicator, a measuring instrument, an archive and a source that should be available to us humans at all times. It describes our time and our view of things. The style, the type of composition, all the creative processes on which it is based are a comprehensive testimony to our culture. Music is like a thread running through history that connects us with all people before and after us. In the article musik = code, this aspect is discussed on the basis of Scripture. Here it is the realization that a piece of music can stir people's emotions with ease centuries after it was written. This power is simply fascinating and mysterious at the same time.

Perhaps you now listen to music with “different ears”. Perhaps you can now better understand some of your concerns about AI and its possibilities. In any case, I hope that you now see music differently, perhaps as an all-encompassing part of your human nature and not just as a product to be consumed.

I hope you enjoy reading and, as always, look forward to the odd comment or two.

Best regards

Ronald

Appendix: I listened to the music of Christóbal de Morales and Jean Mouton while working on this essay. Have fun listening to it.

Preview: In addition to its aesthetic sphere, music also has an effect on our health. I would like to take an introductory look at this incredibly interesting aspect.