Disproving Tolstoy
"Music is the shorthand of emotion," (Leo Tolstoy). One may take this statement one of two ways. Tolstoy may mean that music, through the use of smaller elements, communicates a greater idea. He also may mean that music is an end to justify a superficial mean. Judging by Tolstoy's theories and the fact that he often omits music (or vast genres of it) when arguing his philosophies of art, the latter is more probable. A Russian fiction writer turned philosopher, Tolstoy has some rather interesting theories of what is art. Throughout the course of this paper, I will explain what total serialism is, why its art, what Tolstoy's theories are and why they do not hold up when looked at in relation to total serialism. Total serialism is an extension of Arnold Schoenberg's 12-tone technique, also known as dodecaphony. It was one of the most important and influential compositional styles of the 20th century. In the most basic terms, 12-tone serialism is a technique that aims to compose music in which no one tone more important than another. Through the use of a complex mathematical structure called a matrix, the music is composed. Though it may seem a little arduous to explain how this system works, it is important so
Babbitt goes even further to use sounds that are phonetically analyzed so that they produced exactly the right mood that he wanted. Jahn In addition, Tolstoy has graciously given, what he believes to be, the real building blocks of art (movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words). In other words, Tolstoy believes that a good artist is one who can express to an audience the exact feeling he/she feels, the specific type of anger, pain, or confusion. 1 this is a paraphrased idea taken from a critique of Leo Tolstoy's "What is Art?" written by Gary R. To prove that total serialism is art, we must first prove that it is, in fact, music because there is no denying that music is a category of art. Firstly, let it be noted that his theories do not include some of the greatest literary and musical geniuses ever such as William Shakespeare and Ludwig Van Beethoven. Because he did not compose his music with the intention of communicating the exact feeling he had at that point in time, what he produces is not art in Tolstoy's eyes. This should say something about the exclusivity and narrow-mindedness of his theories. The libretto was written by John Hollander and is based on a fable by Ovid. There is obviously movement here because if it had no movement, it would static and that is one thing Babbitt's music definitely is not. The artist wants to express feeling, and it is feeling that the audience should be infected with. The second kind of movement is like sections. ) the only thing that changes is the starting pitch.
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