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Title
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From absolute music to sound experience : on post-classical music and horizontal listening
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Author
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Abstract
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| This chapter examines the perception and understanding of post-classical (or “postminimalist”) music and its compatibility with narrative approaches to music. The main hypothesis is that the immense popularity of this music genre is symptomatic of a music-aesthetic paradigm shift that is currently taking place, which also affects listening modes and musical interpretation strategies. Because of its deep intertwining with digital technologies – both the music itself and the listening practice – post-classical music is in line with broader cultural processes of horizontalization, driven by digitalization and resulting in the hyper-individualization of society. The main argument for this alignment is that post-classical music creates immersive sound experiences rather than any musical “content” based on musical syntax or harmonic development. By comparing two archetypal cases – John Cage’s 4’33” and Max Richter’s Sleep – this chapter investigates how the relationship between music and listener has fundamentally changed over the last decades. While the “vertical” listening attitude required the audience to actively reach out and interpret the musical material, the “horizontal” listening mode creates a static aural landscape to reside in. Consequently, concepts of musical meaning built on “vertical” models of meaning, especially narrative approaches, no longer seem applicable within the new music-aesthetic paradigm. |
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Language
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English
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Source (book)
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Music and its narrative potential
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Publication
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Brill
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2024
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ISBN
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978-3-8467-6772-6
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DOI
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10.30965/9783846767726_003
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Volume/pages
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p. 21-39
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (open access)
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