“Sound is the
basic matter of
the primordial world.” [1]
music
as embodied will
Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788–1860.
In Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Idea, the philosopher takes on the question of art, and reserves for the art of sound — of music — its highest order.
Whereas most human art is a copy of the phenomena of the world, only the art of sound has its origins in the will, the substance of the universe itself.
music as will
relativity:
space and time as metaphor for music
Isaac L. Rice, 1850–1915.
In What is Music?, Rice introduces perspectives on space and time — that presuppose Einstein’s relativity by 30 years — as unifying principles in his theory of music.
He also comes close to describing the uncertainty principle 52 years before it was introduced by German physicist Werner Heisenberg — all in service to a description of music as infinite as the universe itself.
music as space and time
[1] “Sound is the basic matter of the primordial world.” This quote has been attributed to Marius Schneider, 1903–1982, who compared the origin myths and symbolism across the world’s written and oral traditions. He found this common theme.