The State of Musicology Essay

Introduction

Musicology refers to music study from the point of view of an intellectual. The discipline of musicology, in a narrow sense, has been limited to the history of western music culture. In-between, the term musicology takes into account all the significant cultures as well as a wide variety of music types, genres, styles, and tradition too (Middleton 2002). From a broader perspective, musicology could be described as the study of as well as the thinking about music. Indeed, this phenomenon is quite evident in the very acts of both composing and performance of music (Kerman 1985). Here, musicology entails all the related music disciplines, as well as all music manifestations in every one of the cultures.

Some researchers into musicology opine that this concept of musicology after Kaman could possibly be depicted by a musicological nostalgia over the past, and a sense of loss. From yet another group of scholars, the prevailing state of musicology is viewed as being better, as a result of the vital and inspiring reflection on the discipline, thanks to Karman. Moreover, the discipline provides a point of reference to the conventional music. From such a perspective therefore, there is every likelihood that musicology turns out to be less positivistic and more critical, less concerned with facts and more with interpretations (Kerman 1985).

Moreover, musicology as a discipline has greatly been transformed, owing to the erasing of boundaries between various music kinds, coupled with a search for novel critical theories into the discipline, thereby pushing the discipline to limits that transcend the conventional musicology. This is a development that, according to Beard and Gloag (2005) ought to be faced with resistance. Musicology could in effect be seen as an endeavor to attain a universal way of talking and thinking about the discipline that is music.

A majority of the writing in musicology attempt to depict how music used to be in Europe during the 19^th century. Clearly, there appears to be a credibility gap with regard between on the one hand, music, and on the other hand, the manner in which we as individuals come to think of music as a discipline that has transcended various generations over the years (Beard & Gloag 2005).

Etymologically, musicology is used in reference to the terms ‘words about music’. In this sense, musicology therefore is more concerned with that knowledge that inspires music enjoyment (Kerman 1985). By way of examining music that was composed in the past, as well as at various places, there is a need to see to it that the knowledge of this kind of music gets reconstructed, different from that of the original listeners, composers, and even the performers (Tagg 2000).

In addition, it is also necessary to reconfigure the manner in which this form of music was made, the various types of social structures that offered reinforcement to this type of music, and also the meaning of this type of music. From such a side point of view therefore, it may be insinuated here that all forms of music, on a general perspective, involves its individual musicology. This is because no one kind of music can claim not to have a form of knowledge (Parncutt 2007).

Values of music

The various genres of music that are currently there are true reflection of the meaning that they derive from the music as a discipline (Honing 2006). For example, rock could be taken to mean as standing for the freedom, youth, and authenticity (that is, the act of becoming true to the self). On the other hand, classical music could be seen as representing responsibilities and maturity the choice that an individual makes therefore, with regard to the kind of music to listen to as an important decisive factor as to who you are, as an individual.

Kerman may be said to have carefully treaded through the murky waters of musicology, from an ethnic perspective. This is an area where the lacked in terms of expertise. Nevertheless, Kerman recognized the aim of ethnomusicology to study societal music was a common trend that was shared by a majority of scholars that were at the time working within the conventional art of the western culture. Nevertheless, Kerman, did not fail to initiate an attack on the history and theory of music, the two entities that this scholar regarded as filled with ‘positivism’.

Through this remark, Kerman implied that each of the two entities had over the years been reduced to a mindless facts and data accumulation. With regard to the issue of both facts and data, Kerman opined that this was with a view to reinforcing enhanced interpretations, a better individual comprehension on not just music, but its social context as well (Parncutt 2007). In view of that, Kerman advocated for an approach that was critical, one that would facilitate in bringing both analytical and contextual approaches together, for purposes of analyzing explicit repertoires or traditions.

Currently, there appears to be profoundly well-established explanations as regards the problems that Kerman helped to unearth. The musicology of today rests on traditions that have primarily been established in Austria and Germany, at the start of the last century. The rapidity with which musicology developed after the war is akin to the nuclear industry, and this has for the most part, been attributed to the presence of a Diaspora of German speakers.

The new discipline of these German speakers was formulated by such pioneers of musicology as Adler, who sought to model the discipline around the concepts of classical philology. This in essence refers to an assessment of ancient texts, and which fro the most part required to undergo a reconstruction pout of a wide range of contradictory and fragmentary sources. Thanks to the philology methods, there came into being the critical edition, otherwise referred to as Urtext. This thus came to be regarded as the height of musicology as we ushered in a new century (Kerman 1985).

In other words, music, as a discipline, ceased being perceived as just music per se, but rather, it now assumed the form of a literature. Nonetheless, the art of performing music got lost in the process. This is the point at which the much-talked about positivism by Kerman came into being, following an application of an unsuitably forced interpretive agenda. At this point, musicologists were struggling to obtain the right texts (Kerman 1985). This also resulted in various musicologists trying to offer an explanation regarding this trend. It was a period of soaring to the height of performance from text, as well as a leap from on the one hand, visual to on the other hand, trace, and then later on to lived experience.

Apparently, this kind of leaping was apparently not a common occurrence. If at all musicology as a discipline within music is yet to accommodate the full consequences of the status of music as an art that is performed, perhaps it would be prudent to opine here that the ensuing development following the publication of the book by Kerman was more of a symbolic representation of a resolute decision to evade text limitations in music.

The notion of music being examined ‘in its own terms’ has also received several forms of interrogations. It was music that got read and not the ideological content in it. Musicologists, through an insistence that the major concern was ‘with the music itself’ facilitated in bringing about a concealing of the very ideologies that the ‘powers that be’ relied on. In line with this therefore, McClary (2000) has been a staunch promoter of a musicology that seeks to illustrate just how music has never been ‘just’ music; it has time and again sought to fulfill the need of one individual, while at the same time denying yet another individual their needs.

Today, there is a wide variety of repertoires, as well as ‘art’ music that seem to surround the concept of musicology (Middleton 2002). For this reason, there is every need for the development of sound musicologies, as opposed to written texts, in order to offer a distinction between art music and the other repertoires.

Has musicology come to mean the study of western music in the high art tradition?

Right form the Baroque music era during the period between 1600 and 1750, to the Romantic era that lasted almost a century (1800-1890s), these historical times were characterized by the development of western music such as the Baroque music, and later, during the Beethoven time, there came into being music style that were not only expressive but also quite dramatic.

During the 20^th century, the emergence of jazz music was witnessed, and then followed closely by rock, a type or poplar music that gained prominence in the 50s and 60s. That all these genres of music are a reflection of the western music is a fact that cannot be denied. In addition, a lot of scholars and critics alike have thus far shown a lot of interests in the study of these genres of music.

Going back again to the definition of musicology, the all important issue in this definition is the use of the term words to refer to music. For this reason, we can see that musicology is more concerned with the text, as opposed to the performing aspect of music. All the various genres of music that constitutes the western forms of music are unique in terms of wordings as well as the performing elements of music. In this regard, a lot of the intellectuals in the field of music seem to pay more interest in the area of musicology that bears a relation with the western form of music.

Perhaps it could be insinuated here that musicology is inclined more towards the western types of music. Nevertheless, there are still other intellectuals with an interest in other music genres that bears no correlation with western music.

Conclusion

The term musicology literary refers to ‘words about music’. Nevertheless, there are various perspectives from which this concept could be defined, depending on the intended outcome. For music ha perspective then it is worth of note that the various music genres that are then seek to confer distinct values and meanings to the discipline of music.

The concept of musicology has not been without a criticism from a number of scholars, notably Kerman who was in support of a decisive approach to the study of musicology, as opposed to other positivist or unreflective approaches. Bearing in mind that a majority of the different music genres that we have today bears a western correlation, debate is rife as to whether or not this indicates that musicology should now be studied from the perspective of western music.

Whereas there are many scholars that have thus far undertaken scholarly studies on musicology from the point of view of western music, nevertheless there are others that have also initiated studies that bear no correlation with western music. As such, it would not be entirely true to insinuate for a fact that musicology means the study of western music.

Bibliography

Beard, D, & Gloag, K, 2005, Musicology: the key concepts. London: Routledge.

Honing, H. “On the growing role of observation, formalization and experimental method in musicology.” Empirical musicology review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2006): 2-5.

Kerman, J, 1985, Contemplating music: challenges to musicology. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

McClary, S, “Women and music on the verge of the new millennium. Signs Vol. 25, No.4 (2000): 1283-1286.

Middleton, R, 2002, Studying popular music. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Parncutt, R. “Systematic musicology and the history and future of Western musical scholarship”. Journal of interdisciplinary music studies, Vol. 1 (2007): 1-32.

Tagg, P. Kojak – 50 seconds of television music: toward the analysis of affect in popular music. The mass media music scholar’s press. 2000 (Ed).