Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus and MUSICAL ESPERANTO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I think, understood (or just composed without understanding) that music can be a universal language. He is today called genius.Did he compose his works in musical Esperanto?
From this post on, I am excited to tell you that I will start writing about music as a language and the first post is focused on the nature of language in general. Think about this: what is music?
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Musical Esperanto
Music - singing, composing, listening, playing - is a fascinating medium of communication. Still, on one hand, it could be a horribly artistic and elite-like activity meaning that the deepest understanding of musical nyances is expected to be judged by highly educated professionals. These people judge how music should be interpreted and what musical genres are ideal. They do so imitating other intellectuals who earlier belittled tribal languages in new colonies. Due to this viewpoint, certain musical languages have for a long time been underestimated - in concrete terms, they have been given less money from culture ministries. That closely reminds me of the lack of literature published in finno-ugric minority languages.
On another (more concrete) hand, music is plain physics. It is pressure, longitudinal waves. Minor or major, presto or largo, our minds are affected by sounds as is our ear anatomy. Our bodies communicate with music and should we behave in a certain way when listening to certain music, we do so without getting divided into educated hierarchies. There is no social class that would vigorously party on the dancefloor during Bach's Air. We all understand the approximate message of music. Juan, Tomoko, Matthieu, Abshir, Yasir, and me. We listen to Mozart's Requiem and we feel calm, unlike when Voulez-Vous is played in Abba classics radio.
As we all know, Juan, Tomoko, Matthieu and me hardly understand each other without music. Our languages are far apart from each other and so culturally bonded that sensual, reflex-like responses are plain impossibility. What means 'love' in language xxxxxx, sounds like a swearing word to me. What sounds love song sung by a xxxxxxx singer, sounds really like a love song to me!
Is music a language? Is there a musical esperanto somewhere out there? How far can we get into global communication in terms of music - can it be precise enough to fulfill our needs?
What does music actually tell succesfully? I think, emotions. Happy or sad, energetic or depressed, music can transfer the message. What else? It can relate to nature and movements as if it was waves on a shore, wind in the woods, bird facing its predator, grass with water drops falling down to the ground. Music can argue angrily, melodies can shout and scream, rhythm can live in resonance with your heart beat. Well, yes, it seems like music is the medium for animalia-like messages.
But how about the information we, human beings, need? So far, I have not heard of attempts to musically deliver time tables, medical instructions or soup recipes. And why? Oh, it seems like music is not meant to communicate such purposes. It is not the language of - shall I say - civilization. Music is, or rather, dates back to times that are documented in our DNA rather than in library rarities.
When music becomes theory it looses its universial advantage. Rational music is national communication, irrational music is international communication.
Was this a good start?
To be continued...
posted by Anicko @ 12:18 PM
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