1.5: What is Aesthetic Preference?

In a limited sense aesthetics are the judgments and preferences that humans place on art and cultural works. Aesthetic judgments are not made from only one area of our understanding. They are philosophical, scientific, and theoretical. In simpler terms aesthetic judgments are emotional, intellectual and sensory all at once. It is important to recognize differing aesthetics as the result of the culture from which they arise. Many American students have an aesthetic preference for music that has extra-musical meaning heard in words that are sung. In this case extra-musical refers to aspects of the music that are in addition to arranged sounds. In Western music history musicologists (people who study music as an academic subject, mostly used for describing scholars of European Art music) divide works into two categories that indicate the meaning of a piece. The category in which the works contains extra-musical meaning is calledprogrammatic music. Programmatic music can tell a story or simply relate an idea with or without words. As a side note: Music with words can generally be called songs while music without words is usually referred to as a piece or work. The other category is absolute music. Absolute music refers to music that contains no extra-musical story or idea. There is not currently a strong aesthetic for absolute music. The Classical Style Period (1750-1820) is a time in European Art Music when there was emphasis on absolute music. This is when the sonata, string quartet, concerto, and symphony became important genres.

Music that has words can relate any idea, story, or emotion that the songwriter and/or musicians want to convey. Some songs are narrative. This means that they tell a story. Some simply relate an emotion or idea. Sometimes the words that are sung do not have literal meaning to the listeners/performers. Instead, performance of the piece holds the actual meaning. This is the case with many patriotic songs or protest songs. In some music, the syllables being sung are meaningless. Meaningless sung syllables are called vocables. Many indigenous American songs utilize vocables. They are also a part of England’s rich madrigal and carol tradition (“Fa-la-la-la-la”) and American Do Wop music from the late 1950’s.

Some listeners prefer music without direct meaning. A prime aesthetic of the absolute music of the Classical style period was emphasis on form and proportion in music. The works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart epitomize this aesthetic goal. Understanding much of Mozart’s music necessitates understanding the forms and melodies of the late 18^th century in Austria. More recently ambient music has found an audience. Pure dance music (without lyrics) might also be absolute. Absolute music is only “about’’ the arrangement of sounds.

Aesthetic preference can also manifest in the way that a performer interprets a piece of music. In much of the world’s cultures there is a strong aesthetic for hearing traditional, recognizable pieces. Each new performer of these traditional pieces is expected to add their own musical identity to the piece. This is an opposing aesthetic to cultures in which each subsequent performance of the piece tries to approximate the original sound, aesthetic, and intent of the piece. Students in America often reveal aesthetic preference by considering how they would like to hear an artist play a song that they like. Would they rather the artist interpret in a new way or do they want to hear it “like it was on the album”?