Relationships – Musical and Personal: Theme and Variations

Abstract

Recognizing similarities between our relationship to music and to other people reveals significant educational implications. Emotional responses are inseparable from the understanding which is a necessary condition for any fully educational activity. This brings out the importance of reasoning in music education. Such importance is usually obscured by a prevalent but distorting assumption about the character of reasoning. With respect to emotions generally, as to music, the notion of the particular is crucial. Too often, emotional feelings are characterized in broad, general terms which overlook the vital particular details of the object of the emotion. Such generality is implied by the common misconception that meaning is symbolic. As in so much discussion of the arts, most of the misapprehension stems from deeply ingrained and unquestioned subjectivism. These issues lead to a consideration of sincerity, in responses both to music and to other people.