Music as Intellect, Music as Expression: Initial Thesis Ideas

Throughout history, music has been looked upon as either an intellectual body or an expression of emotion. These two different approaches can be traced back to Greek mythology. In a Homeric hymn to Hermes, the "lyre" is said to have been invented when Hermes proclaimed that the shell of the body can produce sound if its body was used as a resonator. This myth embarks on a discovery of sonic properties in the materials of the universe. The lyre becomes the instrument of Apollo, and music is conceived as external sound that God sent us to remind us of the harmony of the universe. Such music is serene, mathematically derived, associated with transcendental views of Utopia and the Harmony of the Spheres. This train of thought is evident in Pythagoras's teachings and renaissance ideas, where music is a subject of the intellect belonging to the seven liberal arts (it belongs in the Quadrivium section, along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, while the expression, Trivium, includes the arts of grammar, rhetoric, and logic). Schoenberg's music in the early 20th century (12 tone method of composition) is a good example of such thought in music. The methods of expression are number theories, seeking to harmonize with the world through acoustic design.

On the other hand, Pindar's twelfth Pythian Ode tells the story of the beheading of Medusa, leading to the creation of the aulos. Athena, Goddess of strategic warfare and heroic endeavor, was touched by the cries of Medusa's sisters over her slaying, so she created a special nomos in their honor. In this myth, music arise as subjective emotion. The aulos (reed oboe) is an instrument of exaltation and tradegy, and the instrument of Dionysian festivals. Such music is conceived as internal sound breaking through the human heart. The music produced is subjective and somewhat irrational (comapred to the Apollonian view). It employs expressive devices such as tempo changes, dynamic progressions, and tonal colorings. It is the music of opera, of Bach's passions, of Beethoven's symphonies, of Tchaikovsky's ballets. It is the music of the romantic artist, the kind of music that we associated 18th and 19th century classicism , and the kind of music that we would be trained in today.

Music, in general, is found to incorporate both views. The Apollonian thought can be viewed as a left brained mode of thinking, as it deals with issues in music theory like scales, rhythmic value, and acoustical design, or in other words, the objective scientific aspects of music theory. The Dionysian thought can be viewed as a right brained mode of thinking, dealing with how these scales, rhythms and acoustics properties can be used, altered, and manipulated to create expressions of emotions.

Architecture theoreticians have talked about the intersection between music and architecture in both views. There are five different ways that I have found that discuss such intersections. I will list all five now, and will come back and discuss more about each one in coming blog posts:

1) Architecture as a Musical Instrument

2) Architecture as a Stimulus for Movement

3) Architecture as a Sequence of Harmonic Spaces

4) Music as an Inspiration for Architecture (irrational expression)

5) Music as an Inspiration for Architecture (rational expression)

The first three belong to the Apollonian view, as architecture deals with acoustics, rhythmic values, and harmonic proportions. The last two belong to the Dionysian view, where architecture and music could be linked through Synesthesia, or, music can be deconstructed rationally, and then reconstructed to express certain elements within architecture. These titles are tentative and are subject to change within the coming weeks. By next week, I hope to bring more information about each type and how different architects have used these ideas in their designs.