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Musicolog
and meaning
'New' or 'ageing'? LAWRENCE KRAMER clears away some
misconceptions surrounding postmodern musicology
Notes T HE NEW MUSICOLOGY'SEEMS ledge that take a sceptical (but not dismissive)
1. James R. here to stay.TheNew YorkTimeseven view of conceptual synthesis and aesthetic auto-
Ostreich: 'Beethoven
seen as musician, says it has 'swept the field'.l Well nomy. It treats culture itself more as a fragment-
not hero', in and good: but what, exactly, is it? ary, quasi-improvisatory process than as a
TheNew York A phantom, for one thing. The term is more an relatively fixed body of values and traditions;
Times (Monday, 23 annoyance than a convenience; it sticks like a more as a proliferation of forking and often
December 2002), cobweb with just as little usefulness. What the
section E., p.11,
crossing paths (between the 'high'and 'low' in art
column 1.
term refers to, however, is worth clearing away and society, the Western and the non-Western,
the cobweb to examine. the musical and the non-musical) than as a
The label 'new musicology' refers to a research system of boundaries and distinctions; and more
programme developed largely in the English- as a vehicle for the production of individuals, the
speaking world during the 1990s. Its round-up of bearers of subjectivities in which certain ideals
usual suspects includes the likes of Philip Brett- are realised or thwarted, than as a warehouse of
whose untimely death last year deprived the common customs. Music bears directly on all of
musical world of one of its keenest, most these matters, but especially on subjectivity,and
humane, and bravest voices - Susan McClary, it seems fair to say that cultural musicology is
RichardLeppert, Rose Subotnik, and myself. The above all a continuing effort to understand
aim of these authors, among numerous others on musical subjectivity in history. Like 'culture',
both sides of the Atlantic, is surprisingly modest, however, the term 'subjectivity' here requires
given the fuss, bother, and downright venom some further explanation.
their work has sometimes elicited. The idea is to The term does not refer to the condition of the
combine aesthetic insight into music with a fuller self regarded as a private monad, but to the
understanding of its cultural, social, historical, process whereby a person occupies a series of
and political dimensions than was customary for socially defined positions from which certain
most of the twentieth century.This is not as easy forms of action, desire, speech, and understand-
as it sounds, and working at it has sometimes ing become possible. The subject is not a nugget
involved conceptual tools whose complexities are of inner being that extends itself outward to
not musical. It has also involved a principled others whom it never quite reaches. The subject
resistance to over-idealising music, which is not is a disposition to incessant and multiple
to be confused with a resistance to loving it. The relationship.
hostility this project has sometimes provoked For most of the twentieth century,subjectivity,
seems to come from resentment of its emphasis in the sense of the private monad, was regarded
on the worldly engagements of music on the one as an obstacle to both musical experience and
hand and of its resort to critical theory (instead musical knowledge. Too much emphasis on feel-
of, or along with, music theory) on the other. It is ing or ascription of meaning could only obscure
not always possible to reason with such hostility, what was truly musical about music, its articu-
but it is at least possible to clear away the lation of style, form, and structure. Musical
misconceptions that the hostility tends to knowledge was knowledge of the variety and
perpetuate. history of these qualities; musical experience
The name best suited for the fast-ageing 'new came from following them with rapt attention.
musicology' is probably'culturalmusicology'. But These principles, of course, were violated almost
the term 'cultural'here should not be taken in its as often as they were upheld, even by those who
traditional sense. Cultural musicology often upheld them most strongly,and they were rarely
draws largely on postmodernist models of know- applied to popular (as opposed to high art) music.
general atmosphere of meaning in which daily The Ballade has enough narrative import,
life is lived. The only plausible limit to the inter- narrative impact, for scenes of its performance,
pretive process is the requirement that the inter- featuring lengthy extracts, to play pivotal roles
pretation not assume that it works on behalf of in two recent films of utterly contrary genre.
a fixed esoteric order - that it not make the James Lapine's Impromptu (1990) enlists the
structurally dogmatic assumption that there is a Ballade to help portray the romance between
hidden, wholly organised meaning to which it Chopin and George Sand as a breakthrough to
(alone) holds the key. That does not require the authentic identity in the face of social pretense
articulation of meaning to be timid or tepid and personal anxiety; it emphasises the difference
rather than lively and forceful. It just requires between the numbing repetitions of the first
that we leave a few windows open. theme (in G minor) and the self-transfiguring
restatements of the second (in Eb). Roman
VII Polanksi'sThepianist (2003) details the unheroic,
purely arbitrarychain of events that allows one
I'VE often pondered over Roger Scruton's pun- lone Jew to survive the Holocaust; it omits any
gent claim that 'The meaning of a piece of music reference to the second theme and concentrates
is what we understand when we understand it on the combination of the first theme and the
as music.'5 This seems to enunciate an article of furious pounding of the coda. One film binds the
faith for many people involved with music, or at music's narrative drive to hope and human
least with classical music. The claim is tanta- aspiration; the other exposes that drive in its
mount to saying that any meaning not express- rawest state, but also clings to it, as what remains
ible in the jargon of musical technique is limited, when hope and human aspiration have been
secondary,superficial, or less than musical. That systematically annihilated. The Ballade may
little 'as' packs a wallop. It makes music mean equally well be 'about'both possibilities - histo-
just about nothing as 'meaning' is usually con- rical possibilities, recognised as such by the films
ceived. - and about others besides.
This claim must serve some deep-seated need The quality of 'aboutness' is not necessarily
to be so resilient, because its conceptual legs are dependent on propositions. It comes from the
spindly at best. The notion, overt or covert, that way a discourse- - a succession of communica-
music per se means nothing (or nothing one can tive actions - goes 'about'its business. Similarly,
say, what one can say being always too little my knowledge of what a picture depicts does not
or too much) rests on two fallacies that I have guarantee or even necessarily determine my
elsewhere sought to dismantle. The first, en- sense of what the picture does. Even to articulate
countered here already, is that meaning-claims that sense I have to interpolate a description of
about music are unwarrantably subjective. The the picture that implicitly or explicitly acts as an
second is that the lack of musical semantics intermediate form, partly that which is inter-
renders meaning-claims fatally moot, since they preted and partly that which interprets.In the era
cannot be grounded in the semantics of utter- before slide photography,such descriptions were
ance.6 The first fallacy misconstrues subjectivity, the primary tool of art history. Unless I want to
defining it as an unregulated private fantasy- restrict meaning artificially to the more or less
machine rather than as a disposition to engage explicit content of propositions and depictions,
in specific social and historical practices. The meaning is relatively underdetermined every-
second misconstrues the relationship between where that words or images express it. It is there-
semantics at the level of utterance and semantics fore subjective everywhere, and in no invidious
at the level of discourse, failing to recognise that sense.
gl,,, L i ^1 ,,^ i L| !i |i b;
' 'S
The Dream of Gerontius in London distance certainly lent charm to much sensuous beauty of voice with dramatic
(MT July 1903) of the music, but on the other hand insight, and it would be difficult to
the more massive choral effects lost imagine more completely satisfying
AFTERwaiting for an undue time, during something. The choral and orchestral renderings of their respective parts than
which it has been heard in many parts forces, though thoroughly efficient, were they, who are now familiar in the work,
of the world, Dr. Elgar's'The Dream not numerous enough for so large an are able to give. As for the work itself,
of Gerontius' has at last found its way auditorium. The chorus numbered repeated hearings help to convince
to London. The circumstances of its only about 200 voices, but insufficient one of its power and of the absolute
introduction to the Metropolis - at numbers proved the only fault greatness of its not infrequent moments
Westminster Cathedral on the 6th ult. - chargeable to the exceedingly well- of real inspiration. One who heard it
were, it must be admitted, appropriate drilled singers of the North Staffordshire for the first time on this occasion would
enough, if from a practical point of view District Choral Society. The finish and hardly realize its full impressiveness, and
they left something to be desired. The precision of their performance and their to this extent it may be said that less
setting of Cardinal Newman's poem by excellent intonation deserve high praise, than full justice has even now been done
one who in religion and temperament and these virtues were intensified in to 'The Dream of Gerontius' in London.
is in perfect sympathy with it should the semi-chorus, though for the reason With this reservation, however, the
naturally come under the special already mentioned the refined singing of performance, which was conducted by
protection of the Roman Catholic these twenty-three picked members was, the composer, was one of exceptional
community, and it was fitting, if only at least for the majority of the audience, sympathy and finish in all its details.
from the point of view of sentiment, that refined away to an almost imperceptible
it should be given in the great building point. The Society's conductor is Mr. DR. Edward Elgar has been the recipient
which, when completed, is to be the James Whewall, and to him is due of a very remarkable gift which well
cathedral church of their Archbishop. a share of the honour belonging to represents the esteem in which he is held
Even in its gaunt incompleteness, this very practised chorus. The band in North Staffordshire. It consists of a
destitute of the wealth of colour which consisted of well-known London splendid specimen of the potter's art
is meant to adorn it, the interior of musicians, and was thoroughly up executed by Mr. C. J. Noke, a resident of
Bentley's spacious building is immensely to its work. Stoke-on-Trent, an artist and designer
impressive, and seems a fitting place for The novel feature of the performance well known in the district. The gift, a
the 'Solemn Musick' of which Milton was the appearance of Dr. Ludwig loving cup over twelve inches in height,
wrote. Unhappily its acoustic properties Wullner in the title-role, for the first was executed at the Doulton Works as a
are, at least in its present condition, of a time in this country. Dr. Wullner was remembrance of the performance of the
somewhat capricious kind, and one has obviously handicapped by the English 'Dream of Gerontius' given at Hanley.
to be very favourably placed to form a words, but his reading was characterized The cup is enriched with a portrait of Dr.
clear judgment of the music performed. by an intensity of feeling which atoned Elgar in his academic robes, surrounded
From some positions the details were for this, and also went far to atone for with symbolic bays. The prevailing tint is
fairly distinct, but I doubt whether in the marked absence of purely vocal a rich brown, and the whole design is
any portion of the church the weight charm. His two colleagues, Miss Muriel well thought-out and suggestive to a
of tone was sufficiently felt to be as Foster and Mr. Ffrangcon-Davies, high degree.
impressive as it should be. Delicacy and combine to a remarkable degree [unattributed]