Anthem - Intellect

Anthem
normally need to be made orally in order to fully convince of their authenticity and
sincerity, and music is a way of organising such expressions in a more direct way than
in the linguistic system built on words. Susanne K. Langer thus characterised music
as a presentational symbolism, which is experienced in a holistic way, in contrast to
the discursive one of verbal language, where clearly distinct elements are added in
a sequence. 335 Psychoanalytical theorists have similarly linked music to pre-verbal
psychic strata, as hearing is developed earlier in the infant than seeing, and thus has
mental roots that go back to before language acquisition, to more archaic strata that
are closely linked to deep-seated bodily and pre-rational emotions. Such specificities
have led some semioticians and cultural theorists to argue that music is a form of
communication without meaning. 336
This whole line of thought has been brought under critical scrutiny by theorists
like Jacques Derrida, who questions the linear developmental logic and essentialist
romanticisation behind the idea that sound and voice are more primordial than sight
and vision. 337 I see no reason to believe that musical sounds are any less meaningful
than words—only the precise signifying procedures differ. 338 The particular kind of
bodily activity involved in the use of voice and ear in making or listening to music do
not prevent them from communicating meanings, but may at least partially explain why
music is so often experienced as a vague and emotional mode of expression. Whether
art music or popular music, with or without words, foregrounded or for instance in
film soundtracks—music certainly is able to invoke meanings that are determined by
interpretive communities of listeners and music makers, in geographically and socially
situated communities that evolve historically, but it never escapes the cumulated networks
of signification that constitute the traditions of musical genres. Parallel to verbal and
visual modes of communication, pieces of music mean something to people in shifting
contexts, and these meanings are polysemic and negotiable, inserted in the never-ending
stream of conflicts of interpretation that is extended by every new usage and discourse.
While eyes may deliberately be directed and closed, this is not as easily done with
ears. Music therefore has an almost intrusive material force on human bodies, and
can be perceived even when people strive to focus on something else. Music is hard
to block out but at the same time often out of focus, serving as a background to other
activities. These qualities also make it difficult to focus on discursively, and most
people find it much harder to find words to clearly describe music than images.
Music is itself a multimodal form of expression, as a full musical experience does
not only emanate from abstracted sounds but also involves sight and other human
senses. Music is further easily combined with other modes, not least verbal and visual
ones. Music also often exists in combination with lyrics in song and with gestural
or cinematic visuality in opera or film. Besides such multimodal genres and art
forms, many people enjoy reading, writing or working with something silent while
simultaneously listening to music in the background that boosts their energy or
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