Quid est musica?

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This is not a definition, but rather some thoughts about the definition I usually tend to align with:


Under a modern perspective music is usually described as "a succession of sounds and silence organized in time by a composer, a performer and/or a listener".  I tend to agree with this definition for its objectiveness. However, music can have different functions and mean a multiplicity of things for different individuals and groups in different regions, and specially, in different eras. Considering the different and sometimes conflicting definitions we have for music, it is safe to say that ultimately these definitions are subjective at their core, and not able to answer this question objectively, due to our inherited inability to have access to a deeper reality. The proof of the subjectivity of this answer is in the answer itself: composer, performer and listener can be and often are one in the same, and thus as long as there's sound, or silence, occurring over time, this individual can perceive anything as music. Perhaps that is what Cage demonstrated with Tacet 4:33, even if unintentionally. Even the concept of time itself is not free from questioning, but that is a whole other discussion. That does not mean that the proposed answer aforementioned, or any other answer for that matter, is invalid. On the contrary, the multiplicity of answers may be more interesting and elucidative than having one definitive answer, as each one of them is a reflection of our subjective individuality and collective understanding of reality.

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