Timbre: Paradox, Materialism, Vibrational Aesthetics

By: Isabella Van Elferen

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Synopsis: Timbre is among the most important and the most elusive aspects of music. Visceral and immediate in its sonic properties, yet also considered sublime and ineffable, timbre finds itself caught up in metaphors: tone “color”, “wet” acoustics, or in Schoenberg's words, “the illusory stuff of our dreams.” This multi-disciplinary approach to timbre assesses the acoustic, corporeal, performative, and aesthetic dimensions of tone color in Western music practice and philosophy. It develops a new theorization of timbre and its crucial role in the epistemology of musical materialism through a vital materialist aesthetics in which conventional binaries and dualisms are superseded by a vibrant continuum. As the aesthetic and epistemological questions foregrounded by timbre are not restricted to isolated periods in music history or individual genres, but have pervaded Western musical aesthetics since early Modernity, the book discusses musical examples taken from both “classical” and “popular” music. These range, in “classical” music, from the Middle Ages through the Baroque, the belcanto opera and electronic music to saturated music; and, in “popular” music, from indie through soul and ballad to dark industrial.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 240 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9781501365829
Related ISBNs:: 9781501365812
Publisher:: Bloomsbury Publishing
Date of Addition:: 03/06/21
Copyrighted By:: Isabella Van Elferen
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Education, Social Studies, Music, Philosophy
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.