Music as an Art form
What is art? In Elizabeth Elliot’s book Let Me be a Woman, she says that, “In order to learn what it means to be a woman, we must start with …show more content…
is considered music, we must look at specific examples. In the piece Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, there is hardly a sense of tonality, but is it music according to the definition that we have formed? Was it composed: the score for this piece lists parts for violinists, though it is not composed in a traditional form. Was it for or about a purpose: this piece beings to give the audience an aesthetic idea of what the victims went though on that day. Though it is not aesthetically pleasing, it is a clear representation of an event. Conclusion: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima is …show more content…
This piece is not about or for something, so according to Coomaraswamy it has no real purpose (Coomaraswamy 90). Pierrot Lunaire by Scheonburg was written after his rejection of forms and logic, and shows the speech singing style of Sprechstimme. This piece is composed for flute, clarinet, piano, and voice. Is it for or about something? Nothing except for a rejection of pleasurable aesthetics, which is not a real purpose.
Contrasting from our past two analysesm Stockhousen’s Kontakte is amplified music, which records something that is normally not heard by the unassisted ear, and amplifies it. This does not bring materials together, therefore it is not composed. This work is also not for or about a purpose, though the idea of highlighting events that are normally not heard is a revolutionary idea, it is an artistic statement, but it is not music. The very same principles and ideas apply to John Cage’s William’s Mix, and neither mix is aesthetically