Universal Perspectives in Music

Abstract

I have looked carefully at the description of our topic; and it seems that it would be possible to talk about if we left out the word Professor McAllester's exposition on the heightening of experience has almost convinced me of that possibility. And it also occurred to me that we could leave in, but take universals out, with equal impunity. One could equally safely and fruitfully leave out both words-and this would leave us with perspectives, where I would feel on terra firma once more. I don't know how widespread the desire is to view music as a universal. This problem is not necessarily posed universally. It strikes me, rather, as a particularly Western idea, and it makes me hesitate to assume here that the musicians. of the world really are of one mind on this issue. Professor McAllester spoke of the heightening of experience. In a very broad sense, of course, the experience is heightened in music. But it covers such a multitude of phenomena and reactions that it loses much of its significance and relevance. It somehow reminds me of the answer to the question Why did the aeroplane crash: because of the force of gravity. Lots of things heighten and deepen experience ... Music is not unique in this. To be more specific, we know perfectly well that human behavior covers the whole spectrum of what we are and what we do, so perhaps it is not really worthwhile to go into further generalities. To put it in a way that is still more naive: Is there a possibility for musicians to talk about this concretely, and not just in generalities? McAllester mentions the tonic and the urge to project a tonic into music. As you walk along the pavement and somebody goes clip-clip behind you on high-heeled shoes, perhaps, it does not take long to detect a tonic, yet the clip-clop is not the same as this elusive thing