The Aesthetics of Music - Tapa dura

"This is a rich and rewarding study, and I doubt whether anyone could have done it better...Above all, though, he has produced a work of philosophy at its most expansive, light-years removed from the logic-chopping of a generation ago...Scruton, in this ambitious work, has given us a masterly insight into the architecture of tonality and why its "useless space" matters as a home of the human spirit."--The Times ..".provocative new study..."--The Guardian "This is a rich and rewarding study, and I doubt whether anyone could have done it better...Above all, though, he has produced a work of philosophy at its most expansive, light-years removed from the logic-chopping of a generation ago...Scruton, in this ambitious work, has given us a masterly insight into the architecture of tonality and why its "useless space" matters as a home of the human spirit."--The Times .,."provocative new study..."--The Guardian "This is a rich and rewarding study, and I doubt whether anyone could have done it better...Above all, though, he has produced a work of philosophy at its most expansive, light-years removed from the logic-chopping of a generation ago...Scruton, in this ambitious work, has given us a masterly insight into the architecture of tonality and why its "useless space" matters as a home of the human spirit."--The Times , .."provocative new study..."--The Guardian "This is a rich and rewarding study, and I doubt whether anyone could have done it better...Above all, though, he has produced a work of philosophy at its most expansive, light-years removed from the logic-chopping of a generation ago...Scruton, in this ambitious work, has given us a masterly insight into the architecture of tonality and why its "useless space" matters as a home of the human spirit."--The Times .,."provocative new study..."--The Guardian

This text offers a comprehensive account of the nature and significance of music from the perspective of modern philosophy. It is illustrated with many musical examples, and starts with the metaphysics of sound, distinguishes sound from tone, analyzes rhythm, melody, and harmony, and explores the various dimensions of musical organization, and of musical meaning. It seeks to demolish various fashionable theories in the philosophy and theory of music, and to mount a case for the moral significance of music, its place in our culture, and the need for taste and discrimination in performing and listening to it. The author lays down principles for musical analysis and criticism, and ends with a theory of culture, and a demolition of modern popular music.