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The Relationship Between Cultural Dissonance And Dissonance In Music. How Is ...

The relationship between cultural dissonance and dissonance in music. How is today's cultural climate affecting music and where is it heading? Looking at radicalism, Marxism and modernism. Referencing composers such as Schoenberg (12 tone scale), Stravinsky (write of spring, Paris). What role does the strive for originality play? Why has dissonance been so rare in populist, mainstream music throughout history and now in modern times?

Introduction

Like all forms of art music finds itself deeply immersed in cultural ideology and philosophy. From its primitive origins through to its modern day guise, music has undergone much change in direct relation to the culture in which it was conceived. Many theorists have given rationale as to the state of music and critiqued it whilst giving new ideas throughout its changes in history. This dissertation will attempt to trace some of the musical movements in relation to the cultural ideas that support them so that explanation and rationale can be given for the relationship between dissonance in music and cultural dissonance.

Consonance and Dissonance

The birth of consonance and dissonance in western cultures concept of music can be traced in origin to at least the 5th century BC. It is commonly believed to have stemmed from a combination of factors incorporating both acoustic ideas and cultural, reasoning and interpretation. In its infancy the belief was that the consonant intervals had simpler musical ratios in its structure whereas dissonance was essentially the divergence form the ratios that dictated consonance. For instance, the octave of any musical scale has a simple ratio and is deemed consonant whereas the more complex the ratio, such as the minor second, would be deemed as a dissonant sound. It is therefore in the interpretation of what we deem simple and difficult sounding that the origins of consonance and dissonance can be understood and seen to stem throughout culture. For instance, our own individual perceptions of dissonance can be seen as being largely due to the condition in which we hear various forms of music throughout our upbringing that constitute to each of us the norm. In this sense the norm would constitute the consonance of music and other unfamiliar sounds the dissonance of music. However, there are several that have gone to suggest that consonance and dissonance are not merely culturally or experientially defined. For instance, the cognitive operance of the aural system has been found to be in conjunction with the structure of a tonal system by psychologists. Though the essence of this cannot be confirmed as the cultural variables are by nature so vast and complex to measure, commonalities in what is defined as easy and conducive and what is complex and disruptive.

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