Musik & Ästhetik, 1997, Jg. 1, Ausgabe 1-2

Systems theory and music. Luhmann´s variant of an autonomous aesthetic

A discussion of the »systems theory« put forward by the sociologist Niklas Luhmann (University of Bielefeld Germany) with respect to the aesthetics and sociology of music is justified in two ways: On the one hand it is trying to meet the universalist claim to a modern »super theory«. On the other hand it seeks through its own contribution to join in the art-theoretical debate in the related science. In a first step the art-sociological dimension of the systems theory is expounded and developed on the basis of the general theory of social systems. Luhmann´s hypothesis is as follows: The general theory of social systems replaces the thinking in identities with the paradigm of the discrepancy of system und environment. This basic discrepancy is the fundamental prerequisite for the formation of autopoietic systems. Autopoietic systems generate their elements of which they consist through an implementation of the system/ environment discrepancy. Art is an autopoietic subsystem of society which reproduces itself i.e. its elements through the implementation of the specific discrepancy beautiful/ ugly. The basal elements of the system are works of art. These are not identities but programs of communication. In art communication as a basal element of the autopoies of social systems aggregates solely as an end in itself. Autonomous art thus seen as aesthetic communication is the paradigmatic fulfillment of society per se. In a second step the aesthetic capacity of the systems theory is insted under the concrete conditions of music and under the label of an autonomous aesthetic is subjected to first criticism. This critical reflection yields two results: The strength of Luhmann´s sociology lies in the theoretical and historical description of the process of the differentiation of art to an autonomous subsystem of society. The weakness of Luhmann´s aesthetics is that it restricts the general meaning of art and the specific meaning of individual works of art to their historical gain in autonomy.

Surgi de la croupe et du bond. Stéphane Mallarmé: Maurice Ravel

This treatise on Ravel´s setting of a poem by Mallarmé (1913) takes into account with regard to content and form the insight into the fundamental aesthetic and structural autonomy of text and music. Each of the two authors first endeavours to describe (without previous exposure to the subject) one of both realms (text or music) as accurately as possible. Thus above all they avoid an analytical approach to the aesthetic objects that does not go beyond the description of the relationship of these objects to each other in categories of reciprocal correspondence which can hardly do justice to the subtleties and the richness of the composition. The authors are not concerned with the confirmation of a supposed totality of the aesthetic correspondence between text and music. Rather they hope especially on account of their separate descriptions for a penetration of the deeper layers and thus for the possibility of gaining insights into the complicated and fruitful process of mutual contemplation and transformation of both media within the complex union of the composition.

The hedonistic ear. Preliminaries to the aesthetics of musical subcultures

An aesthetics of so-called pop music is a desideratum. Pop music holds little aesthetic interest for traditional music philosophy – the distinction between serious music and light music is still valid even though for serious music it has long been declared obsolete. According to Adorno music classified as ›light‹ remains ›bad without exception‹. The theorization of pop music may have succeeded in enhancing its status but aesthetic aspects have been left out of consideration and there is too much focus on the sociocultural context. Here the concept of musical subcultures helps us first in a descriptive way to find our bearings. Within the musical subcultures – which are not automatically compatible with the kind of music spread through the media as pop – a separate developmental logic even a form of subhistory has in the meantime developed together with criteria for a specialist opinion. But this is only just beginning to formulate aesthetic questions; answers can only be outlined. In this respect the contribution discusses some of Adorno´s reflections on the function or dysfunction of music and eventually also the problem of musical invariants. Might perhaps »every pleasure that emancipates itself from its exchange value« and as Adorno says »takes on subversive traits« have its specific place in musical subcultures?

Ferneyhough´s String Trio

Ferneyhough´s »String Trio« (1995) occupies a special position among the composer´s works in several respects. 1) A trio is for formal historical and discourse-immanent reasons so challenging a medium that Ferneyhough prepared himself for this composition for a long time. 2) The relatively long piece has a rigorous double character of a four-movement form and interpolated interventions which are interlocked in a complexly paratactic way. 3) The element of making the musical discourse objective constitutes a new challenge to Ferneyhoughian compositional practice. 4) The content of the work suggests a ›second‹ mastery namely an opening to the hitherto stylistically subordinate although it would be too early to speak of the beginning of a late style. The analysis exemplarily shows aspects of Ferneyhough´s musical and compositorial thinking as a whole.

Music as an Object of Philosophical Reflection. On the Timeliness and Transitoriness of Adorno

A philosophy of music that wants to face the pressure of today´s problems has to be measured against the level of reflection formulated in the writings of Adorno. First the contribution criticizes various reducing formulae of previous Adorno-interpretations: the sociologistic the positivistic the aestheticizing and the historicizing reduction (I). It then outlines perspectives of a critical extension of Adorno´s music philosophy: starting from the problem of time and considering the aspects of utopia development and threedimensionality tonality and hermeneutics of the musical experience (II). The author points to Hans-Georg Gadamer´s and Walter Benjamin´s approaches as possible correctives to the speculative surplus of Entwicklungsgeschichte (»developmental history«) and Versöhnungsphilosophie (»philosophy of reconciliation«) in Adorno. Compared with »Aesthetic Theory« both prove to be more suited to elucidate the connection between the historicity of consciousness and the momentariness of aesthetic experience. Thus it becomes clear how important it is to complement Adorno´s pithily productionaesthetic approach with a hermeneutics of a finite and social reception of art. Apart from the level of his observations on musical production Adorno´s strength is above all that his train of thought does not bow to alternative stances such as modern or postmodern metaphysical or non-metaphysical phenomenological or critical.

Neither Art; nor Science? Concerning the Situation of Music Theory

In contrast to England and America music theory has not been able to establish itself in German-speaking countries as a scholarly discipline at the universities. After the war a strict division was made regarding higher education in music: scholarly training was received at the university while the artistic training was received at the music conservatories with music theory being appropriated to the conservatories as an ›artistic subject‹. Cut off from the scholarly discourse of the university the music theorist got used to working in secret unnoticed and without publishing his scholarly achievements. Unnoticed by the public a lively scene of music-theoretical research developed. However since the discipline did not participate in scholarly communication it appears to the outside world to have been caught in a conservative stiffness which lead to massive criticism that is now threatening its existence in times of dire financial straits in the public sector and the dwindling acceptance of an ›elite‹ and ›bourgeois‹ art. The author confronts the criticism which has been imposed upon music theory with for the most part unknown facts about music-theoretical issues and teaching. In doing so he tries to shed light on the complex dialectical relationship between the teaching of the musical trade − the central object of this criticism − and scholarly music analysis the focus of music-theoretical practice in Germany as well as in England America and France. The author believes it is high time to connect up with the discourse which is being followed with such interest abroad especially in the English- and French-speaking countries. He is also convinced that the music theory of German-speaking countries with its independent tradition based on Riemann Kurth Schönberg and Adorno can enrich the scholarly discussion.

Beyond the Market

Starting with the question of sense (Sinn) this essay tries to shed light on the relationship between the market and art. In doing this the author discusses a number of articles on the topic ›Market and Meaning: Is the market dominating our values?‹ and then makes a move in the direction which Walter Benjamin and the Frankfurt School (Frankfurter Schule) initiated.