The Language of Music
 Cover of the 1960 Oxford University Press edition | |
| Author | Deryck Cooke |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Music |
| Published | 1959 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 304 (1990 Clarendon Press edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0198161806 |
The Language of Music is a 1959 book by the critic and musician Deryck Cooke.
Summary
Cooke expounds the expressionist theory of art, according to which beauty in music depends upon the accurate representation of the emotions of its creators. He matches various predicates with musical phrases or chordal sequences.[1] Cooke believes that memory for melodic contour and implicit harmony is allied to its affective character.[2]
Scholarly reception
The Language of Music is an often cited representative of the expressionist theory of art.[1] No systematic experimental study of Cooke's theory has emerged relating it to musical education, but one pilot study showed that for 22 non-musician students, his characterizations of musical phrases were not experienced.[2] Douglas Hofstadter writes in his Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979) that Cooke's book is, "A valuable start down what is sure to be a long hard road to understanding music and the human mind."[3]
References
Footnotes
- 1 2 Sharpe 1995. p. 599.
- 1 2 Spender 2004. p. 631.
- ↑ Hofstadter 1980. p. 747.
Bibliography
- Books
- Hofstadter, Douglas (1980). Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-005579-7.
- Sharpe, Robert (1995). Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866132-0.
- Spender, Natasha (2004). Gregory, Richard L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866224-6.