Item 30 - Zeit und Raum der musikalischen Erfarhung

An essay exploring the facets of music that make possible musical experience, including tone, movement, time, and space. Zuckerkandl writes that the experience of tone is always interpreted in relation to a tonal field, and that the difference between an acoustic event and a musical event is the dynamism of the latter. On movement, he writes that the idea of sound movement is problematic as sounds are not physical things that can move; the solution is to regard the movement of tones as pure movement that is separated from physical space. Time, on the other hand, is always pervaded by tactical experience through the experience of grouping; Zuckerkandl writes that we do not feel rhythm as equal division, but as a series of departures from and returns to an origin point, thus musical rhythm is felt as a wave, which can be felt at multiple levels. Musical time is thus felt qualitatively, not as absolute measurement. Finally, Zuckerkandl addresses musical space as a dynamic ordering of tones in relation to each other, rather than as a geometric concept, into which a person gains insight by placing themselves within the musical space as a participant. Zuckerkandl references prominent figures of Gestalt psychology throughout the article, including Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Geza Revesz, as well as other figures from psychology and philosophy. Minor edits in pencil to phrasing.