Section
Section IV - A Passage to Elsewhere
Publication Date
12-2019
Publisher
Western University
Place of Publication
London, Ontario Canada
Keywords
Western classical music, romanticism, a work of art as part-person-part-thing, existential philosophy, Aristotle and happiness, slowness and weight, Estelle Jorgensen
Print ISBN
978-0-7714-3133-3
Online ISBN
978-0-7714-3134-0
Page
239
Abstract
A change has been going on in both the philosophy of music education and the general philosophy of music during the last decades: a transition from a focus on music as an object or work to a focus on music as an activity and process. This certainly contrasts with the historical hegemony of the (Western) idea of music as objects. As a philosophical development this is unproblematic. However, a fundamental prerequisite for moving encounters between the human subject and music, in music education as well as in general, is the very idea of music as a work of art. This does not mean that music is to be considered solely as an object. The musical work of art is to be considered as both a subject and an object: a part-person-part-thing. In this chapter such ideas are discussed related to writings by Bohlman, Elliott and Small, romanticism, Benjamin’s aura concept, Buber’s encounter concept, and Aristotle’s discussion of happiness.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation of this paper:
Varkøy, Ø. (2019). In defense of the work of art: I and thou in music education. In R. E. Allsup & C. Benedict (Eds.), The road goes ever on: Estelle Jorgensen’s legacy in music education (pp. 239-252). London, Ontario: Western University. https://doi.org/10.5206/q1144262.jorgensen.2019.ch18