In his account of aesthetic contemplation as momentary deliverance from the continuous torment of the will-to-live, Arthur Schopenhauer separated music from all other art because he thought that music was the most immediate objectification of the entire will, which in Schopenhauer’s philosophy is the ‘thing-in-itself’, the essence of the world. All other art, in his view, explored the empirical demonstrations of this will, the Ideas which are individuated in particular phenomena. But music, Schopenhauer believed, is the whole Will expressing itself over again. Astonished by music’s powerful expression of the various modes of affections and endeavors common to all, as well as the distinct elements of music acting as reflection of natural phenomena, Schopenhauer developed a philosophy of music that has endeared him to many musicians; a philosophy of music that is one of the most acclaimed and impressing.

A brief summary of his metaphysics of music: In the deepest tones, which form the foundation of a musical composition, the bass-notes, Schopenhauer recognized "the lowest grades of the will’s objectification, inorganic nature, the mass of the planet." In the harmony between the bass and leading melody , he recognized "the whole gradation of the Ideas in which the will objectifies itself". It is in melody that Schopenhauer recognized the highest order of the will’s objectification. "Melody", says Schopenhauer, "expresses the many different forms of the will’s efforts, but also its satisfaction by ultimately finding again a harmonious interval...". Fast melodies free of crucial deviations express a happy state, while slow melodies of comfortless discordance express sadness. All melodies ultimately make a return to the keynote, reflecting the recurrence of striving/satisfaction/striving anew. The patterned advance of musical notes resembles the progression of striving common to human existence, and thus is directly comprehended by the mind as an expression of the constancy of striving that is the nature of human life; a repeating cycle of striving and satisfaction, where one need or desire is met and another immediately replaces it. The striving of the whole world, through its many phenomena, is represented through music, as if the Will adopted a second language to express itself in an even more powerful and beautiful form than before.

Of the various emotions expressed in music, Schopenhauer emphasized that it is not a particular experience of emotion that is being expressed, but the emotion itself. Music does not endeavor to express a specific joy or sorrow, but joy or sorrow in-itself. Not my sorrow or the composer’s sorrow, but Sorrow. It is the idea of the emotion that music concerns itself with. This is one reason why Schopenhauer felt that instrumental music is of a higher order than music which is constructed around the singing, as though the music is simply a means for the singer to tell the tale of some event. A musical composition which is structured in such a way that it follows the vocal lines is restrained in reaching its potential because it becomes too interested in patterning itself in conformity to the events described in the words. Instrumental music enjoys a freedom of exploration and dynamic that more appropriately and powerfully realizes its effect.

It is a very common act for the listener to relate a personal experience to the words of a song which communicate a similar event or an emotion identifiable with the event. There seems to be something of comfort for the listener in hearing another passionately singing of a relatable experience. The vast majority of popular music is structured to have exactly this effect. One does not hear long instrumental passages or adventurous explorations of dynamic emotions in modern popular music. This type of music is pushed into the margins of obscurity because it does not cater to short-attention spans or immediate gratification seekers. Schopenhauer recognized that the best music was the most difficult to understand, and he made no secret of his opinions regarding the capacities of the majority to understand and appreciate the work of genius. To be sure, there is something of a gross individualism and egocentric intention in approaching music, or any art for that matter, in a wholly subjective manner, and limit a work to the role of existing purely for one’s specific emotional condition, and therefore to cheapen art as a medium for satisfying one’s own emotional needs.

Schopenhauer emphasizes the role of the composer in the creation of music that expresses the excitement of the will that represents the substance of a specific event as one of objectified commentator, momentarily suspended from the direct suffering of existence. The composer of the most expressive music creates from an "immediate knowledge of the inner nature of the world unknown to his faculty of reason; it cannot be an imitation brought about with conscious intention by means of concepts, otherwise the music does not express the inner nature of the will itself, but merely imitates its phenomenon inadequately.". What is interesting about this passage is how it runs contrary to popular conceptions regarding the condition and intention of the musician during either the composing stage or the performance, which is that what is being expressed is a direct release of the personal, individual emotions of the musician borne from a particular experience that inspired the composition. Indeed, this does seem to be the case in what Schopenhauer labels "imitative" music, which is closely related to modern pop music. But this kind of music, as Schopenhauer recommends, "is to be entirely rejected." It does not represent the true nature of the will, but merely an individuated phenomena, an event defined by a particular emotion rather than the essence of that emotion as considered in an abstract, objective manner.

Now the human being is conditionally self-interested, and finds it quite natural to directly relate everything encountered back to itself, as if all things exist specifically for its services. So with music, the listener most often attempts to subjectively consider a composition as if it were composed particularly for him/her, as a sort of soundtrack for one’s current emotional drama. With "imitative" music or modern pop music, which is composed with the intention of accommodating this approach, there is nothing to be cheapened by such an audience, as the music functions as a product geared towards gratifying one’s lifestyle choice or decorating one’s constructed identity, and therefore does not aim to express the true nature of the world. Here we can easily identify why the vast majority celebrate such superficial music over truly expressive music such as classical, purely instrumental music, or even ambient and black metal music. It is because this latter kind of music does not aim to satisfy the individual ego in the form of conventionality of structure and dramatized emotional indulgence, but rather stimulates the mind to consider the world as a whole, its true inner nature. This most expressive music momentarily suspends the individual from the direct and personal emotional pain, to portray the entire world before the listener, who is then encouraged to contemplate the essence of existence in a wholly objective manner.

So we find, as in all human production, a kind of hierarchy of music, in both genre and particular expression within a given genre. A popular assumption of modern thought is that there is no significant artistic greatness, that all is a matter of personal taste, and that no one kind of music is of a worthier quality than another. This line of thought essentially holds that any given three-minute pop song is of no less value than an elaborate symphony. This idea is of one use only in a democratic, egalitarian society which rests on the foundation of equality, namely to rescue the pop-song fan, who is unable to understand and appreciate a classical piece, from feeling inferior in the sense of having less refined predilections. The truth of the matter is that very few are able to take, even for a brief moment, a purely objective view of things, and thus very few are able to comprehend music that is expressing the true nature of the world. To consider the world objectively is to move closer to a fuller appreciation of its process and function. Very few can manage this, as it requires one abandon, for a moment, all subjectivity of thought; to temporarily banish the idea of the individual self so as to assume a delineative position. This is a frightening suggestion to most because they cannot bear to imagine a world in which they do not exist, even briefly.

The point here is understanding Schopenhauer’s philosophy of music as a demonstration of all actions, endeavors, functions etc., as having a specific purpose. The ordinary individual in an egalitarian democracy does not think of music as having any higher purpose than to act as entertainment or as a soundtrack to one’s lifestyle, and cannot appreciate the idea of music as an expression of something profound that aims to reflect the nature of the world. This comes from the commonly held and highly egocentric opinion that a thing can be transformed into whatever the individual wishes it to be in order to fulfill a desire, despite the fact that all natural functions are designed to fulfill a specific purpose, and that one purpose alone.

In this tragically brief existence, where we are presented with a world of endless wonder, we should always engage ourselves only in those activities and pursuits that advance us nearer to a more complete understanding with our relationship with the world. Schopenhauer recognized music as the most universal of all art, for within it, everyone comprehends its expressionist language and existential flow, but he also recognized that life is too short to subject oneself to music that does not aim to express the essential nature of the world. All things have a specific purpose, and it is an agreeable idea that if we wish to live a life of true inner harmony and connection with the world around us, we will seek only those things that strive for the highest realization of their specific purpose. In the consideration of music, this means giving oneself up entirely to a composition that aims to express the essence of reality, to contemplate the true nature of existence while wholly immersed in the most powerful and beautiful creation of humanity.

6/19/07