Post by Admin on Apr 9, 2024 12:20:15 GMT
Ancient Greek ideas of attunement can breathe new life into music
psyche.co/ideas/ancient-greek-ideas-of-attunement-can-breathe-new-life-into-music
In Athenian philosophy, attunement is important not only in music, but also for moods, attitudes and states of mind
Music is a simple joy, offering us relaxation and amusement. Yet it can also bring about something far more profound, difficult to describe, almost mystical. Intense musical experiences involve altered states of consciousness. Music can have the effect of meditation, a day at the spa, yoga, a psychedelic trip, psychotherapy: moral and spiritual healing. Aristotle discussed the potency of music in the 8th book of his Politics. It can be a trivial amusement, even a distraction, but it can also be a useful tool in education and provide support for ethical development. Music was seen as a divine force manifest in nature; reason woven into chaos; beauty emerging of its own accord from the toil and turmoil of the human condition. Orpheus’ fabled melodies were so potent they could charm any animal, human or god, and could even bring rocks to life. Music pervaded all aspects of life from the mundane to the personal, even cosmic and supernatural.
Despite the abyss between the habits of modern music culture and the fabled but inaccessible music of the ancients, the importance of music and the diversity of ways it was woven into peoples’ daily lives was the same. Music was as pervasive and meaningful for them as it is for us. Socrates, on the day of his death, was writing songs of his own, and declared that philosophy itself is the greatest music. Plato and Aristotle not only had ‘philosophies of music’ but veritable musical philosophies – to borrow a phrase from the poet Paul Valéry – that is, a philosophy imbued with the spirit of music.
Pythagorean musical cosmology, which synthesised Orphic mythology and mathematics (probably learned from Egyptian or Babylonian sources), was systematised by Philolaus (470-385 BCE), and adopted into Athenian philosophy by Socrates. It centred on two terms, rich with meaning and subtleties, that blur the lines between mind and body: tonos, from which we get our word ‘tone’, and harmonia, from which we get ‘harmony’. These terms continued to play important roles in psychology, ethics and political philosophy from Aristotle to Claudius Ptolemy (100-170 CE). Both terms have multiple connotations, but generally mean attunement as it applies to musical intervals as well as to the moods, attitudes or states of mind. The meaning of attunement is at once musical, psychological and metaphysical.
psyche.co/ideas/ancient-greek-ideas-of-attunement-can-breathe-new-life-into-music
In Athenian philosophy, attunement is important not only in music, but also for moods, attitudes and states of mind
Music is a simple joy, offering us relaxation and amusement. Yet it can also bring about something far more profound, difficult to describe, almost mystical. Intense musical experiences involve altered states of consciousness. Music can have the effect of meditation, a day at the spa, yoga, a psychedelic trip, psychotherapy: moral and spiritual healing. Aristotle discussed the potency of music in the 8th book of his Politics. It can be a trivial amusement, even a distraction, but it can also be a useful tool in education and provide support for ethical development. Music was seen as a divine force manifest in nature; reason woven into chaos; beauty emerging of its own accord from the toil and turmoil of the human condition. Orpheus’ fabled melodies were so potent they could charm any animal, human or god, and could even bring rocks to life. Music pervaded all aspects of life from the mundane to the personal, even cosmic and supernatural.
Despite the abyss between the habits of modern music culture and the fabled but inaccessible music of the ancients, the importance of music and the diversity of ways it was woven into peoples’ daily lives was the same. Music was as pervasive and meaningful for them as it is for us. Socrates, on the day of his death, was writing songs of his own, and declared that philosophy itself is the greatest music. Plato and Aristotle not only had ‘philosophies of music’ but veritable musical philosophies – to borrow a phrase from the poet Paul Valéry – that is, a philosophy imbued with the spirit of music.
Pythagorean musical cosmology, which synthesised Orphic mythology and mathematics (probably learned from Egyptian or Babylonian sources), was systematised by Philolaus (470-385 BCE), and adopted into Athenian philosophy by Socrates. It centred on two terms, rich with meaning and subtleties, that blur the lines between mind and body: tonos, from which we get our word ‘tone’, and harmonia, from which we get ‘harmony’. These terms continued to play important roles in psychology, ethics and political philosophy from Aristotle to Claudius Ptolemy (100-170 CE). Both terms have multiple connotations, but generally mean attunement as it applies to musical intervals as well as to the moods, attitudes or states of mind. The meaning of attunement is at once musical, psychological and metaphysical.