Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology, 2011

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    About music, philosophy and science ...
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Dankowska, Jagna
    The text attempts to answer the question whether musicians need a philosophy of music. The answer to the question of what music contributes to philosophy – a question superordinate in relation to the investigations of the links between philosophy and music – can be formulated clearly, since we find it in the texts of the most prominent representatives of European philosophical thought, including Schopenhauer, whose ideas are discussed in the paper. These issues are also discussed in literature which explores philosophical issues, by such classics of the genre as Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse, whose profound descriptions bring us closer to an understanding of that which music does directly, by expressing spheres beyond words that cannot be expressed otherwise than through music. Karl Popper regards polyphony as the greatest discovery of European culture, and provides evidence of the closeness of science and philosophy. These three levels of approaching the relationship between philosophy and music lead to demonstrating the axiological essence of music, revealed by performers, who make it possible for music to exist to the full in its sonority, unveiling its metaphysical perfection to its listeners.
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    The reliability of evaluation musical performance by music experts
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Manturzewska, Maria
    To test the reliability of the evaluation of musical performances by musical experts, the protocols of the jury of an international music contest have been subjected to statistical analysis. The object of the analysis were 2156 jurors’ points and rank ratings, given by 28 members of the jury, assessing 77 different performances of one of Fryderyk Chopin’s polonaises, evaluated during the first stage of an international music competition. The analysis revealed the following: l. very large interpersonal (inter-rater) differences of the jurors’ ratings, 2. despite these differences, there was a very high level of statistical significance of the inter-rater agreement (p<.00l) of the jurors’ evaluation, 3. despite the high level of statistical significance of inter-rater agreement of the evaluation of musical performance, this accounts for only 1/3 of the general variance of ratings. Conclusion: individual ratings of musical performance are not a reliable measure of musical achievement, even when given by music experts of the highest level.
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    Symphony No. 7 by Krzysztof Meyer – strategy of building the form, expressivity of the work
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Podhajski, Marek
    The article brings closer the formal and expressive properties of the 7th Symphony by Krzysztof Meyer, composed in the years 2002/2003. Meyer distinguishes several specific features that should be taken into consideration during the process of composing.These include: the capacity to adapt, the limitation of soundinformation transferred onto the listener, and a division of the form into integrant phases. The capacity to ‘adapt’ occurs through opposing emotional states connected with the reception of music: remembering, familiarising, and becoming used to a certain property of the musical progress – surprise that emerges with the appearance of a change. The surprise effect is a strong reaction, and one that is sought after for the purpose of maintaining a high level of the listener’s engagement in the reception process of music. The need to ‘limit the sound-information’ that the composer transfers onto the listener allows the latter to take note of it and remember it. An information overload leads to a sense of disorientation, being lost, and consequently discouragement from active listening. Finally, ‘the significance of the structural elements of the form’ is considered. In his conclusion, Meyer presents a model of musical form as a progress based on phases unfolding in time. The composer outlines the following phases: the initial phase, the essential phase, the transitional phase, the phase of particular importance, and the final phase. However, he warns against literal and orthodox understanding of his concept. ‘Meyer’s fundamental aim is ‘to lead’ the listener and not to overstretch their perceptive capabilities. A ‘planned spontaneity’ is the purpose’.‘All the symphonies by Meyer, both early and recent, were shaped in the same manner. The process is at the forefront: build-up, development, clashing collisions, conflict of contrasting elements’. The 7th Symphony is also built according to similar constructional principles. What distinguishes it from the earlier works in this genre is connected with the expressivity of the work. The composer notes: ‘The symphony evolves according to musical laws par excellence, but not without admitting some thoughts about myself in metaphorical categories, because, after all, the subtitle ‘Sinfonia del tempo che passa’ – Symphony of the Passing Time – was not chosen accidentally’. Thus it is a tale about one of the most fundamental existential experiences of every human being: the passing. This is suggested by the emotional aura of the music, the subtitle that the work was given, and references to emphatic rhetoricalmusical figures known from the Baroque period. As Thomas Wesselman wrote: ‘The subtitle Symphony of the Passing Time clearly invites the assigning of a retrospective character to this opus no. 97’. ‘It is true that the composer has never commented on the subject, but the justification of the suspicion seems to be confirmed by the expressivity of the final movement (molto lento), which, in a way, is a statement filled with peace and tranquillity made by a human being with years of experience behind him. In any case, it suffices to compare this symphony with its two predecessors, i.e. the 5th,full of energy and scored for strings, and the dramatic 6th written as a reaction to the introduction of the martial law in Poland; one has a sensation that a moment of reflection (pondering over life’s end?) plays a special role in the 7th’.
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    On certain ‘tools’ for research into the perception and creation of music and the complex ways in which they affect one another
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Humięcka-Jakubowska, Justyna
    Perception is a constructive mental process, which cannot be considered impersonally. Similarly, music cannot be cognised solely on the basis of its score, since its coming into being is strictly connected to the activation of human memory and sound imagination. The patterns that emerge from the sounds of heard music enable the listener to draw conclusions regarding the structures those sounds embody. However, such conclusions are accompanied by a degree of uncertainty, which concerns not just the perceived moment of the heard music, but also the way in which it is represented in the listener’s memory. Perception is an inferential, multi-layered, uncertain process, in which particular patterns seem more likely than others. Mental representations of those probabilities lie behind such essential musical phenomena as surprise, tension, expectation and pitch identification, which are fixed elements of the perception of music. The aim of the present article is to describe the essence of three selected types of music modelling, based on spectral anticipation (Shlomo Dubnov), based on memory (Rens Bod), and exploiting the dynamic character of music to obtain information (Samer Abdallah and Mark Plumbley). All these models take account of the element of uncertainty that accompanies the perception of music; hence they make use the foundations of information theory and statistical analysis as measurement ‘tools’. The use of these tools makes it possible to obtain numerical rates, which inform us of the degree of predictability of the musical structures being analysed. One crucial advantage of these methods is the possibility of evaluating them in respect to the use of real musical structures, deriving from actual music, and not abstract structures formed for the purposes of research. We obtain cognitive insight into the analysed music by employing methods of a mathematical provenance, and so we have the possibility of examining music whilst taking account of the role of the listener, but with the use of objectivised methods.
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    From the Editors
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Humięcka-Jakubowska, Justyna; Podlipniak, Piotr
    The tenth volume of Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology is devoted to the work of the outstanding Polish musicologist and acoustician, Professor Andrzej Rakowski, who celebrates his Eightieth Birthday in 2011. This dedication expresses the recognition of Professor Rakowski’s scientific achievements, as well as his steadfast efforts to improve the condition of Polish culture and music education.
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    Audiomarketing – music as a tool for indirect persuasion
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Makomaska, Sylwia
    In modern society, music penetrates most of our everyday activities, and so one is not surprised that it has become commonplace, and even expected by consumers, in places of sale. Contemporary shops are no longer merely points of sale. They have become a sort of medium between clients, on one hand, and vendors and producers, on the other. Audiomarketing is a term used to define a modern marketing tool that uses music to create the unique atmosphere of a particular place and to influence consumer in places of sale. To explain the audiomarketing phenomenon, a review of selected studies concerning the problem of emotional responses to music has been presented. These findings are supported by a review of some investigations indicating that music can have a strong impact on consumer behaviour (e.g. music and the speed of customer activity, music and time perception, the effects of music on sales, etc.). The presented examples of experimental research provide excellent proof that it is worth introducing suitably chosen music into a space where people buy and consume. This is due above all to the fact that present-day society, overwhelmed by vociferous messages, prefers emotional arguments, and music can act as an excellent tool for communicating with consumers on an emotional level.
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    The vocal competence of children and youth – diagnostic research
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Kamińska, Barbara
    There is a prevailing conviction that Poles cannot sing. The custom of singing has died out in families, and it is even waning in music lessons in school. There is a general perception that singing skills are conditioned by the possession of special musical abilities and that not everyone can master them. This article presents the results of my diagnostic research carried out at the end of the 1980s and reprised by other scholars in recent years. Because the same research method and procedures were used in all this research, it is possible to compare the results and observe any changes in the level of singing skills over the space of around twenty years. The research signals an alarming situation in respect to such an important musical competence as singing. After the twenty years that have passed since the first research, we observe a decline in the ability to sing among children and youngsters.
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    On the need for methodocentrism in music teachers training system
    (Katedra Muzykologii, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTPN, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2011) Jankowski, Wojciech Benedykt
    The main idea of this paper, dedicated to Professor Andrzej Rakowski, is to emphasize that the pedagogy concentrated around the school curriculum and school subjects (eg. Music) has become more and more outdated. More useful seems to be a pedagogy oriented towards the so-called Great Author Concepts (Methods) of Music Education, eg. Dalcroze, Orff, Kodály, Gordon and others.The author of the report provides a justification for his opinion, as well as specifying its purpose and the conditions under which it was formed. Primarily, the proposed approach involves combining the universality of the Methods with the individual preferences of both the teachers (representing the Method) and the students, providing the possibility of choice. The author sees the special value of that point of view in the integrative character of these Methods – combining an active and creative approach to music with the students’ perceptual and intellectual development. The report also highlights the requirement for a high level of teacher competence in the use of all the methods. Taking into the consideration all of the above (discussed in more detail in this report), the author puts forward a proposal for the reform of the system of training music teachers. According to the author, the system ought to be founded on the Methods (e.g. on one of them, particularly where the Concept/Method is already well developed).