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Aesthetics from Below and Aesthetics from Above - Quantitative Way of Reapproachement

by Yury Nikolaevich Rags.
The Scientific world, Moscow, Russia, 1999.
Reviewed by Alexander P. Mentyukov, Russia. E-mail: apm@ntonyx.nsk.su


Rags Y.N. the author of the monograph - professor of the Moscow conservatory known scientist and teacher, direct successor and continuator of ideas of the founder of the whole direction in a Russian musical science of N.¥.Garbuzov.

The research has a generalizing character. The author summarizes long observations in the field of the theory of music, musical acoustics and psychology of perception, gives a total evaluation to information and computer technologies widely used in various spheres of musical activity. The central place occupy questions of methodology of analysis of musical phenomena from aesthetic standpoints.

Developing known positions of Gustav Fihner, Gugo Riman, academician M.V. Petrov of understanding rather different methods of musical creativity products, the author subjects to discussion two directions existing in analytical practice, as a rule, separately. They are stood in the headline of book.

"An aesthetics from below" is understood as the method of a researches turned to objective, quantitative performances of musical objects. "An aesthetics from above" - method of the same objects from an item of their wholeness and qualitative parameters.

Two scientific approaches adding one another are accordingly offered: quantitative (detailed) and qualitative (expert), taking into account features of sensual perception.

The main idea of work is reduced to necessity of the weighted application that and other of methods, that only can give a rigorous outcome in an analytical evaluation of musical objects, taking into account their multilevel nature and outside of dependencies from their genre, style and historical accessories.

In the first part of the book the object of knowledge born in a chain of correlation - the composer, performer, contributor is determined. On inclining the author, object "the only executed piece of music, that is in the form of acoustic sounding" can act (pp.68-69). Therefore steadfast attention is given indicative "to nuances" of sound object and their systematization.

The second part is devoted to methods of musical piece knowledge. The special interest can be caused by a system, the author proposed to different level division the object (from a microcosmos up to macroworld), and also description of methods of point measurements in music and their expediency. Here is resulted the conspect review of nominal expert methods of G.Fehner, N.A.Garbuzov, B.V.Asafyev, L.N.Mazel and others.

In a third part of the book the various approaches in knowledge of music are considered, Russian experience of laboratory-experimental researches is interpreted practically in the field of ideal tuning, pure intonation, intoning norms, tempos, agogic and dynamics of sound object.

The book of Y.N.Rags offers a holistic model variant of a musical art study system, harmonious combining data of physical, psycho-phisiological and aesthetic parties in itself present in any product of musical creativity. The book is addressed to a broad circle interested in questions of alive aesthetics and experts in area of performing art.







Updated 13 September 2000.




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