Semantics
Within semiotics, semantics addresses the theory of the meaning or ‘science of signification’ concerned with the way meanings change from their original signification. Although my artifact may use theory of semiotics in its creation, my interest is in whether any signified meaning within the artifact can really be interpreted in exactly the same way by each member of the audience. This section of my essay suggests it is the context in which it is experienced that gives it its meaning and this can be perceived in the same way by a group of people.
“Semantics is the theory of the conditions, psychological, anthropological, social-historical, cultural and aesthetic, which traces the processuality of the creation of meaning, it’s metamorphosis and dissolution”.
(Monelle 1992:27)
My exploration into this field has taken me back to the time where we have evidence of mankind’s earliest forays into meaningful musical artefacts, flutes made of bone found nearby to Palaeolithic cave paintings. The close proximity of these early instruments suggests that music would have accompanied the paintings perhaps as part of a ritual or celebration. Early cave dwellers in fire-lit caves would have experienced new sensations caused by the sounds of the flute, these would have very quickly acquired emotional meaning associated with the art being viewed.
“Since the act of drawing sharpens the perceptions of the artist, by making him pay detailed attention to the forms he is trying to depict, the Palaeolithic painter did in reality learn to know his prey more accurately, and therefore increases his chances of being successful in the hunt” (Storr, 1992:2)
This statement convincingly argues that paintings of the animals they hunted would have been directly associated with a successful hunt and it could be construed that the associated meaning when viewing the paintings would have been one of elation. It is not difficult to then imagine the heightened experience that the addition of music, another sensory stimulus, would have caused. The music would have gained meaning from its association with the images and the context in which it was played, a celebration of a successful hunt, a celebration that could be experienced by the whole community, women and children alike. Perhaps the flutes were even used as part of the hunt, as a form of communication device, therefore also having directly associated meaning? The discovery of the flute may well have caused aesthetically pleasing sensations but it was its association with hunting that would have given it meaning. It seems that it is in our human nature quickly associate sensations with feelings, music semiotics in Palaeolithic times!
What is important though is these experiences were shared sensations and the meanings were perceived in the same way within a communal group. Art and community were intrinsically linked, shared understanding, emotional bonding, the security that came about from living in groups allowed early artists the freedom to be able to experiment with sound and image to create early texts. It would not have happened if we had become solitary creatures, of course being mammals our existence is largely down to the successful care of our offspring. Many thousands of successful years later music would have developed into something more familiar to us as over time mankind began to shape the instruments, sounds and musical intervals that were pleasing to the ear.
We can perhaps draw some understanding of communal musical experience from studying Gelada:
“Human beings, like geladas, also use rhythm and melody to resolve emotional conflicts. This is perhaps the main social function served by group singing in people……. Music is the ‘language’ of emotional and psychological arousal. A culturally agreed on pattern of rhythm and melody, i.e. a song, that is sung together, provides a shared form of emotion that carries along the participants so that they feel their bodies responding emotionally in very similar ways” (Richman, 1987: 28).
It would seem that one way of music being meaningful is through group experience and that this can aid the development of communities and has done throughout the history of mankind. The question that is impossible to answer is whether semiotic meaning can be passed on through genes or whether all meaning is learned, it does not seem implausible that this could be so however in the creation of my artefact I aim to use semiotic theory that implies that all meaning is learned in one fashion or another, whether it is in a social-cultural context or drawn from a historical context. On reflection it could be argued that genes are indeed one way of learning meaning of the world albeit on a rather deeper, subconscious and not provable level.
Leonard Meyer
Leonard Meyer was one of the first western music theorists to incorporate psychologically based arguments in describing musical meaning and the manner of musical communication.
Using classic opinions of philosophical aesthetics, particularly Koffka, Meyer acknowledged the following two dichotomies:
The Absolutist versus the Referentialist
The absolutist believed that “musical meaning lies exclusively within the context of the work itself” and the referentialist believed that “musical meanings refer to the extramusical world of concepts, actions, emotional states and character”.
The Formalist versus the Expressionist
The formalist believes “the meaning of music lies in the perception and understanding of the musical relationships set forth in the work of art and that the meaning is primarily intellectual”. The expressionist would argue that “these same relationships (as the formalist) are in some sense capable of exciting feelings and emotions in the listener”.
Meyer compromised and took and absolute expressionist position and believed music could have both intellectual and emotional meanings at the same time.
I can relate to the position that music can have meaning exclusively within the context of work and at the same time can excite emotions within the listener. This would surely have happened within Palaeolithic times, the sound of a flute would have caused aesthetically pleasing sensations on its own, the sounds from the flute could then have excited the emotions felt when viewing the drawings of the hunted animals. We must not forget that food would have been the most important thing in the lives of early man.
It is a combination of both of these that make the subject of musical meaning a complex and sometimes abstract subject, as perceptions can often be different from listener to listener. It can be argued however that there are some fundamental discoveries made that relate to music that we, as intellectual beings, are attuned to, that go beyond the semiotics of music and meaning associated within cultural context. The pentatonic scale emerged, as we know it today, from several entirely different cultures, it seems independently. These notes would have been tuned by the ear, intervals between frequencies that would have perceived as being “nice”.
This could be considered music’s first layer, a reaction to vibration or sound and in this respect it differs greatly from other aesthetic experiences such as art or literature.
Leonard Meyer (page vii) states, “Not only does music use no linguistic signs, but on one level at least, it operates as a closed system, that is, it employs no signs or symbols referring to the non-musical world of objects, concepts, and human desires”.
Meyer’s beliefs go further in that he believes emotions to be “essentially undifferentiated”. In this statement he means that emotions can exist as a sensation or a physiological change in the brain however these changes must be interpreted through cognitive processes in order for the emotion to be meaningful or recognisable.
How have applied theory to my composition?
Part 1
In his “Law of Affect” Meyer believed that “emotion or affect is aroused when a tendency to respond is arrested or inhibited”, the view that inhibited behaviour leads to a more intense emotion.
The music in Part 1 ignores any structure familiar to western popular music, whereby we experience harmonic tension and the release. It can be said that it does not resolve in any way and can leave the listener experiencing a sensation of contemplation.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Around and around in circles (first thoughts on reflection)
When I started this unit I had a strong belief that music had contained within it the ability to stir meanings (or as I learned later, sensations) that are not socially or culturally related. Where this belief came from I have no idea however it became quickly apparent that there is no real evidence for this and that it is widely accepted that meaning is learned from the social and cultural context in which the sensation of listening is experienced. Either that or meaning is learned from studying the social and cultural context from history or cultures outside of ones own.
Then the question “can the sensation exist without the meaning?” arose and consequently “can the meaning exist without the sensation?” I came to the conclusion that they cannot exist without each other so therefore must be one and the same. If there was a moment when the sensation is triggered in the cortex of the mind it is so brief as to be negligible as we immediately attach meaning even if it is as little as disinterest.
However something Paul has stated in his essay that I absolutely believe in. This is that an artefact has no meaning until it is viewed by either it’s intended audience or otherwise. A piece of art sitting in the dessert unseen by anyone has no meaning at all. It is only when it is seen does it then take meaning. But the art exists, and when the art is placed in a gallery, museum or concert hall, the context gives it authenticity. If I am to expect unmotivated meaning within my artifact to convey similar experiences to a number of people I would need to exhibit in a place where they could all experience it together, perhaps a chill out room?
“The authenticity of the artefact does not vouchsafe its meaning. Rather, this derives from its nature and functioning, once placed in a museum, as a sign - or, more accurately, a sign vehicle or signifier. The consequences of this are far reaching. All of the developed theories of language available to us are in agreement with that, apart from a few special classes, individual signifiers have no intrinsic or inherent meaning. Rather they derive their meaning from their relations to the other signifiers with which they are combined, in particular circumstances, to form an utterance. This has the obvious consequence that the same signifiers may give rise to different meanings depending on the modes of their combination and the contexts of their use” Bennett, Page 147
So then it struck me that everything goes around and around, that we learn from our own and others experience both past and present. The meaning we attach to artefacts, either through reading, viewing, listening, or through more social experiences such as sharing, peer pressure, is learned.
So how do we come up with anything new? Was or is it all already there waiting to be discovered? Much like Darwin’s theory that the eye would always evolve? Was my artefact always destined to be made? It seems not implausible that the melodies that the Beatles came up with (based around the diatonic chords found in a key) were always destined to be made? But they were original were they not? Or were these songs simply the result of musical evolution? If you could play them to the Romans they certainly would be original in every respect. It has now become possible to program computers to simulate the compositions of famous composers, when heard in isolation they certainly seem to carry some of the feeling and spirit of the originals’ compositions, particularly when they are interpreted via performance and human intervention.
But how is it possible for this music to contain any meaning if it effectively has no author? The only way meaning can exist is for the meaning to be generated by the listener or audience.
As the image existed before the music I cannot assume that I have changed the authors original meaning, I can only take my interpretation and meaning and express it as a musical form using techniques that demonstrate ?
BIB
Anthony Storr Music and the Mind Page 2
Bruce Richman (Rhythm and Melody in Gelada Vocal Exchanges Page 28 1987)
The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics
By Tony Bennett
Published by Routledge, 1995
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