Music and the Origins of Language: Theories from the French Enlightenment

by Downing A. Thomas

Overview

The search for the origins of language was one of the most pressing philosophical issues of the eighteenth century. It has escaped notice, however, that music figured prominently in that search. This study analyzes reflections on music and music theory as they appear within the logical and narrative structure of texts by, for example, Rousseau, Diderot, Rameau and Condillac, and considers the ways in which music facilitates links between language and meaning, between conceptions of an original society and an ideal social order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521028622
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2006
Series:	New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism , #2
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	317,277
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.47(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Music and language; 2. Origins; 3. Music theory and the genealogy of knowledge in Condillac's Essai sur l'origine des connaissances humaines; 4. Music and original loss in Rousseau's Essai sur l'origine des langues; 5. Sensible sounds: music and theories of the passions; Conclusion; Biography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Thomas distills these and far more recondite arguments with admirable clarity, and, what is more, he persuades the non-philosophically inclined reader of the relevance of his investigation.' Musical Times

'… it provides an invaluable chronicle of some fascinating developments in the idea of a musical language within neo-classical theories of representation.' British Journal of Aesthetics

From the Publisher