Re: Musical Language was:(Re: DIPLOMACY: Memetic Morphing)

From: Brian Manning Delaney (b-delaney@uchicago.edu)
Date: Mon Nov 16 1998 - 23:29:06 MST


Max M Rasmussen wrote,

> As a long time musician (+15 Years) I am
> absolutely convinced that music is no more than
> a stylised abstraction of the human language!

Perhaps -- though it may also be that human language is an
abstraction of music!

Nietzsche wished he had "sung" _Zarathustra_. Some 20th century
composers wished they had written novels (or political tractates).
Nietzsche was smarter, I think.

The question ultimately requires determining how much language
refers outside of itself. Tricky question, to be sure, and not just
for posties (people who refer to their beliefs as "post-modern,"
"post-structuralist," etc. -- also a kind of breakfast cereal with a
very, very high glycemic index).

Off to jam,
Brian.



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