Preface
List of Music Examples
Note to the Reader
1: Sound
2: Tone
3: Imagination and Metaphor
4: Ontology
5: Representation
6: Expression
7: Language
8: Understanding
9: Tonality
10: Form
11: Content
12: Value
13: Analysis
14: Performance
15: Culture
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Roger Scruton is a leading authority on aesthetics, but has also published books on other aspects of philosophy, politics, literature, architecture, and modern culture. Currently a freelance writer and composer, he was previously Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.
`It is a great merit of Scruton's book that it does not shy away
from issues of the value, including moral value, of different sorts
of music.'
The Philosophical Review, vol. 109, no.4
`The Aesthetics of Music constitutes also an advanced primer in the
appreciation of music, one worthy to set alongside those of
distinguished predecessors such as Copland, Bernstein, and Tovey.
Scruton illustrates almost every point of importance with a
well-chosen example, which examples are reproduced to a very high
standard. It is difficult to overestimate how much more accessible
and compelling the observations offered are when backed up at
every
juncture by musical specifics.'
The Philosophical Review, vol. 109, no.4
`the most valuable work to date on the subject of its title, one
that addresses that subject in its full range and complexity, and
one that is full of insight and instruction, both musical and
philosophical, at every turn. ... Scruton's musical culture, as
here displayed, is simply astounding.'
The Philosophical Review, vol. 109, no.4
`what Scruton is doing is offering devotees of atonality the chance
to acknowledge that the phenomenon was a passing, perhaps
inevitable but nevertheless temporary phase'
Arnold Whittall, The Musical Times, Winter 99
`Scruton is certainly passionate about his subject and the passion
informs the eloquence of his writing ... He keeps jargon to a
minimum and his finely tuned ear guarantees a flowing prose style
... The Aesthetics of Music is a stimulating and provocative
book.'
Piers Spencer, Music Education
`This is a book centrally concerned with the nature of our musical
responses, with exactly when and how 'sound' is transformed into
'tone.' ... Scruton's music examples are impressive not only for
the number and range of them ... but also for the detailed uses he
makes of them - especially in those musically engaged chapters in
the middle of the book on expression, langauge, tonality, form and
analysis.'
Anthony Pryer, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 124
(1999)
`For those who, like me, have realist inclinations, Scruton's book
poses a systematic challenge, especially since some parts of the
package seem very attractive indeed ... It deserves to be at the
center of discussion in the aesthetics of music for a long time to
come.'
Gary Iseminger, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Summer
1999
`It refreshing to find a work that so willingly tackles the really
hard questions about music's significance and value... a book full
of nutritious thoughts and insights. It is profoundly erudite,
well-written and handsomely produced, and one of its major
pleasures is the abundance of musical examples: Scruton's knowledge
of music and music history is quite exceptional. It is extremely
agreeable to read, and will certainly be an essential work for
anyone
interested in the topic.'
M.W. Rowe, British Journal of Aesthetics
`the diligent reader is rewarded with a powerful display of
Scruton's philosophical insights. It is philosophy at its
best.'
Zbigniew Granat, Notes, December 1999
`extraordinarily rich and impressive'
Malcolm Budd, British Journal of Aesthetics
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