Music and Meaning

276 Pages·1997·22.002 MB·English

by  Jenefer Robinson

MUSIC & MEANING

Music
&
Meaning
EDITED BY
]ENEFER RoBINSON
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
ITHACA AND LONDON
Published with the help of the
Charles Phelps Taft Memorial Fund,
and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Cincinnati
The passage from "Peter Quince at the Clavier," in Collected Poems by
Wallace Stevens, is reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Copyright 1923 and renewed 1951 by Wallace Stevens.
The lines in the dedication are from Charles Kingsley, "A Farewell."
Copyright© 1997 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press,
Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 1997 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1997
Printed in the United States of America
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and
materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials
include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are also either
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Music and meaning I edited by Jenefer Robinson.
p. em.
Includes index.
Contents: Language and the interpretation of music/Leo Treitler-Listening with
imagination/Kendall Walton-Musical idiosyncrasy and perspectival listening/Kathleen Marie
Higgins-Music as drama/Fred Everett Maus-Mahler's Ninth symphony, second
movement/A nthony Newcomb-Shostakovich's Tenth symphony /Gregory Karl and Jenefer Robin
son-Schubert's last sonata/Charles Fisk-Two types of metaphoric transference/Marion A. Guck
Music and negative emotion/Jerrold Levinson-Why listen to sad music/Stephen Davies.
ISBN-13: 978-o-8o14-8367-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Music-Philosophy and aesthetics. 2. Symbolism in music. 3· Music and language.
4· Music and literature. 5· Music, Influence of. 6. Music-Psychology. I. Robinson, Jenefer.
ML3845.M972 1997
781.197-DC21
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
IN MEMORY OF MY MOTHER
WINIFRED CLARA ROBINSON
AND MY AUNT
EDITH ALICE DUTHIE
And so make life, death, and that vast for-ever
One grand, sweet song!

Contents
Contributors ix
Preface xi
1 Introduction: New Ways of Thinking about Musical Meaning 1
JENEFER ROBINSON
I
THE MEANINGS oF Music
2 Language and the Interpretation of Music 23
LEO TREITLER
3 Listening with Imagination: Is Music Representational? 57
KENDALL WALTON
4 Musical Idiosyncrasy and Perspectival Listening 83
KATHLEEN MARIE HIGGINS
II
Music AS STORY-TELLING: THE LITERARY ANALOGY
5 Music as Drama 105
FRED EvERETT MAus
6 Action and Agency in Mahler's Ninth Symphony,
Second Movement
ANTHONY NEWCOMB
vii
viii Contents
7 Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony and the Musical Expression
of Cognitively Complex Emotions 154
GREGORY KARL AND ]ENEFER ROBINSON
8 What Schubert's Last Sonata Might Hold 179
CHARLES FISK
9 Two Types of Metaphoric Transference 201
MARION A. GucK
III
EXPERIENCING MUSIC EMOTIONALLY
10 Music and Negative Emotion 215
JERROLD LEVINSON
11 Why Listen to Sad Music If It Makes One Feel Sad? 242
STEPHEN DAVIES
Index 255
Contributors
STEPHEN DAVIES is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Auckland.
CHARLES FISK is Phyllis Henderson Carey.Associate Professor of Music at
Wellesley College.
MARION A. GucK is Professor of Music Theory at the University of
Michigan.
KATHLEEN MARIE HIGGINS is Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Texas at Austin.
GREGORY KARL received his doctorate in musicology from the
University of Cincinnati in 1993·
JERROLD LEVINSON is Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Maryland.
FRED EvERETT MAus is Associate Professor of Music at the University of
Virginia.
ANTHONY NEWCOMB is Professor of Music and Dean of Humanities at the
University of California at Berkeley.
JENEFER RoBINSON is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincin
nati.
LEo TREITLER is Distinguished Professor of Music at the Graduate Center
of the City University of New York.
KENDALL WALTON is James B. and Grace J. Nelson Professor of Philosophy
at the University of Michigan.
ix