Musical Universalism
a cross cultural dissection
What is Universalism?
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“The single harmony produced by all the
heavenly bodies singing and dancing together
springs from one source and ends by achieving
one purpose, and has rightly bestowed the
name not of ‘disordered’ but of ‘ordered
universe’ upon the whole” –Aristotle (399 a DE
MUNDO)
Musical Implications- the interconnectivity of
different styles spanning across cultural and
temporal realms of influence. As opposed to…
Cultural Relativism- the argument that not all
music can be interconnected; that certain
musical styles can arise simultaneously, free of
direct influence
“The world is everything, that is the case”
(Wittgenstein, I)
Genre VS. Styles
• Musical Genres- “Vague labels used as pigeon-holing techniques to sell a
musical product to mindless consumers.” (Meadows)- i.e. Adult
Contemporary, Top 40
• Musical Styles- Particular sounds and idioms that are evocative of a larger
musical framework. i.e. Jazz, Hip Hop, Baroque Music
• Why is it important to make the distinction?
• Genres within Western art music imply an empirical separation by means
of ensemble. i.e. String Quartet, Choral works, Symphonies
• Styles suggest both taxonomical and influential advantages, allowing for
the generation of new styles as well a preservation of the old.
• Ex. Jazz-Fusion/ Traditional Jazz duality
as a Historical Model
• Wagner’s Essay, Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft (1851), seeks to find the
pinnacle of artistic expression- a synergy of dance, music, and poetry.
• German Linguist-philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein writes “Every artist has
been influenced by others and shows traces of that influence in his works;
but his significance for us is nothing but his personality” (23e)
• Emancipation of Dissonance- Introduction of non-western sounds and
scales. Debussy begins to incorporates Javanese Gamelan while
Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) fuses folk song, complex
rhythmic structure, polytonality, and dance.
• The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club (1967) uses the LP genre to
conceptualize a unique Identity wherein the band is free to explore a vast
diversity of musical styles. Included are Classical, the Avant-garde, British
Music Hall, Rock, and Carnatic Indian music.
Identities and Universals
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“Objects make up the substance of the
world. That is why they cannot be
composite.” (Wittgenstein, 2.021)
If an artist is to be truly universal, then
he must have many identities to
encompass the span of the artistic
realm.
Paul McCartney- Mastermind behind
“Sgt. Pepper’s” concept. Continually
uses nom de plumes as a means of
branching out musically.
Influenced in London Avant-Garde
circles by John Cage, Stockhausen, and
Cornelius Cardew (Peel, 33)
Percy Thrillington (Free Jazz)
The Fireman (Electronica & Dub)
as a Compositional Framework
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“The most important thing in art is THE
FRAME. For painting: literally; for other
arts: figuratively- because, without this
humble appliance, you can’t know
where The Art stops and The Real World
begins.” (Zappa, 140)
This notion of framing creates a
universal dichotomy wherein every
thing can either be labeled “art” or
merely exist outside of the artistic
realm
As a composer, the use of framework
has allowed to put into perspective the
importance of making a true artistic
statement, drawing from whatever
influences are necessary to make said
statement
Particular Manifestations
• Indian “Tihai” or transitory cadence has found
parallels in nearly all strains of western music.
• WAM- growth via crescendo and accelerando leading
into coda sections
• “Beat drop” in dub step as a larger cultural
phenomena
• Busdriver’s “Imaginary Places”- also samples Bach’s
Flute Solo from Orchestral Suite no. 2, Badineire
Universalism and Physiology
• The Pentatonic Scale is present in all cultures in
one permutation or another
• Szabolcsi divides pentatonic material into two
groups…
• Anhemitonic (without semitones)
• Hemitonic (with semitones)
• He also accounts for a third type which equally
divides the octave, called a “distance scale” which
can be traced back to Chinese and Hindu sources
cont.
• Five notes equally divided among the octave raise the question of
the Third-Second Nucleus which argues, “that in rudimentary scales
throughout the world, the succession of whole tone and minor
third [or visa versa]… occur most frequently.” (Reinhard, 15)
• Explains that the minor third is the first interval above tonic in
which feelings of “light” or “dark” can be expressed.
• “The minor third is also important in pre musical utterance: it is
most noticeable in the cries of children and even of adults, which
are onlu just removed from the realm of speech.” (Reinhard, 17)
• Conversely, a recent study has shown that major thirds were more
common with regards to mother-infant interaction (Infant Behavior
& Development; Vol. 33, Issue 4)
Fig. 2-2
• “15 mothers and their three month old infants during 5 min of free play in a
laboratory setting. 558 vocal exchanges were analyzed, of which 84% reflected
harmonic or pentatonic series.” (Infant Behavior & Development)
• “Vocalizations based on harmonic series appeared organized around the major triad,
containing significantly more simple frequency ratios (octave, fifth and third) than
complex ones (non-major triad tones)” (Infant Behavior & Development)
• “The octave, as it forms the boundary for scales cross –culturally, has been labeled as
the focal point in cross-cultural music.” (Meyer, 1956, pp. 63, 231)
Sensory Universalism
• Described as synesthesia, or a cross-feed of sensory information. i.e.
hearing a chord as a distinct color.
• “Synesthesia seems to go with an unusual degree of cross-activation
between what, in most of us, are functionally independent areas of the
sensory cortex- such cross-activation could be based on an anatomical
excess of neural connections between different areas of the brain.” (Sacks,
193)
• The importance of synesthesia is that now we have neurological links to
help fill the gap between art and our perceived notion of beauty.
• Can help fuel both art and research. (Synergy between arts, sciences and
commerce.)
Postmodern Thought and Universals
• Following World War II (1946)- writers began responding to
the massive growth of both information and population.
• Idea of Zeitgeist, which has opened up universals to a fourdimensional temporal realm in which any and all material is
able to be drawn from. (Hip hop- Sampling and remixes)
• Notion that moving forward requires looking back.
• Stevie Wonder “Living for the City” Bridge theme orchestrated
to fit the style of a Straussian tone poem.
Universalism and its Purpose
• The universalists framework is important to
realize because it gives us as creators,
databases from which endless possibilities of
new art can be formed.
• The main purpose of universalism is to better
understand the working of our world and how
art can be a manifestation of a combined
global culture.
Works Cited
• Greek text: Aristotelis Metaphysica. Ed. Werner Jaeger. Oxford Classical
Texts. Oxford University press, 1957.
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1921) Tractatus Logico-Philisophocus, trans. C. K.
Ogden (1922) revised by Wittgenstein. Dover reprint, 1999 Mineola, NY.
• Lavender, Zac (2013) Interview with Josh Meadows (email) March 28th.
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig Culture and Value, trans. Peter Winch (1980) The
University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
• Peel, Ian (2002) The Unknown Paul McCartney: McCartney and the AvantGarde. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. Richmond, Surrey.
• Zappa, Frank & Occhiogrosso, Peter (1989) The Real Frank Zappa Book.
Touchstone ed. 1999 New York, NY.
• Szabolcsi, Bence Acta Musicologica Vol. 15, Fasc. ¼ (Jan. – Dec., 1943),
International Musicological Society http://www.jstor.org/stable/932058
• Reinhard, Kurt Journal of the International Folk Music Council Vol. 10,
(1958) International Council for Traditional Music
http://www.jstor.org/stable/835966
• Van Puyvelde, M., Vanfleteren, P., Loots, G., Deschuyffeleer, S., Vinck, B.,
Jacquet, W., Verhelst, W. “Tonal synchrony in mother-infant interaction
based on harmonic and pentatonic series.” Infant Behavior and
Development, Volume 33, Issue 4, Dec. 2010.
Http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.04.003
• Meyer, Leonard (1956) Emotion and Meaning in Music, Pub. Feb, 15th
1961, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN-10: 0226521397
• Sacks, Oliver (2008) Musicophilia, Pub: Vintage Books, Random House, Inc.
New York, NY. Vintage ISBN: 978-1-4000-3353-9