Filosofinė muzikos samprata klasikinio laikotarpio graikų tekstuose ; The philosophical conception of music in classical greece

Abstract

The Philosophical Conception of Music in Classical Greece The phenomenon of music is one of the central aspects of Greek culture. The Greek word for music (mousikē) means the art of the Muses and is related to the literary and theatrical tradition. Its significance can be seen from the universal use in a huge variety of different social practices. This thesis aims to analyse the phenomenon not from the empiric evidence (the discourse of musical iconography and musicology is much more explored), but through the texts where music is reflected on the theoretical basis. Special attention is paid to the texts regarding philosophical considerations of music, in particular the writings by Plato and Aristotle, the musical tradition of Pythagorean thought (mostly reconstructed from the Corpus Pythagoricum) as well as the remarks related to the aforementioned traditions. It is argued that these texts were of highest importance in Classical Greece and their frame of reference became the starting point of conceptual music for the later authors. The concept of music is ambiguous on many levels even in the ancient Greek texts. There are two main traditions, one of which focuses on talking about the empirical music and another that conceptualises the phenomenon by connecting many other philosophical contexts, such as mathematics, harmony, ethics etc. Those which do not relate music to the philosophical background usually define music as an enclosed niche with autarchic laws, though this tradition is confronted with the question of how music can affect people, and these discussions often lead to the theoretical / philosophical contemplation. The tradition of Pythagoras is understood as the medium between the archaic and classical tradition of Greek thought. Their ideas about finding the basis of hidden, though fundamental, structure of the world leads to the claim that the number is the foundation of reality. The number has mystical philosophical relevance, but what is most important for the analysis of music, is that harmony of cosmos has the same numerical basis as musical harmony. Numbers define the laws of cosmos, as well as the laws of human soul and music becomes the representation of these laws both on sensual and theoretical level. In Classical Greek world music is not only the phenomenon of sound, it corresponds to the principles of profound nature and it could be understood only by invoking mathematical knowledge. Music is perceived as numerical and temporal phenomenon leading to the intellectual work of mind. The mathematical nature of music in relation to other elements of reality is further developed in Plato's Timaeus. Pythagorean theory of music and cosmos, mathematics and proportions, is described explicitly and the Timaeus' version of the universe can be seen as a tuned musical instrument. The dialectic of stability and change is also analysed both on the levels of cosmos and musical laws. The proportion establishes a diversity of elements and at the same time enables a clearly definable unified identity (that is argued to be one of the keystones for understanding any form of Greek art). The textual analysis of the terms ἁρμονία (harmonia) and συμφωνία (sumphonia) affirms the importance of proportion. Because of its numeric nature music can affect human soul that also has numeric nature, and through imitation of emotions make a huge influence on the level of ēthos, as well as on political and social life. Music might be invoked for both virtuous and vicious means, therefore, the regulation of the phenomenon and appropriate tradition-forming laws have to be implemented in the musical culture of society.