Description
Eduard Hanslick’s ‘The Beautiful in Music’ stands as one of the most significant contributions to musical aesthetics in Western philosophy. Originally published in the 19th century, this groundbreaking work challenges the prevailing Romantic notion that music exists primarily to express human emotion.
Hanslick argues instead that music’s true beauty lies in its autonomous formal structures, tonally organized sound patterns, and intrinsic compositional logic. He contends that music is an abstract art form whose aesthetic value must be appreciated on its own terms, independent of extramusical associations or emotional interpretations.
This philosophy profoundly influenced modern music criticism, composition theory, and aesthetic discourse. The book presents a rigorous examination of how we perceive and evaluate musical beauty, making it essential reading for musicians, composers, music theorists, and anyone interested in understanding the philosophical foundations of musical appreciation and critique.
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