Aesthetics
![“Music is thus by no means like the other arts, the copy of the Ideas, but the copy of the will itself, whose objectivity these Ideas are. This is why the effect of music is much more powerful and penetrating than that of the other arts, for they speak only of shadows, but it speaks of the thing itself.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer
Contents:
I) Samples of Sound Recordings (For the Adorno Assignment):
II) Worthwhile Articles on Music:
III) Worthwhile Links:
IV) On Censorship in Music:
I) Samples of Sound Recordings (For the Adorno Assignment):
Toscanini:
Composer, Conductor;
NBC Broadcast,
Dec. 25, 1937
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Szeleczky Zita:
singer, performer
Singing “Puppchen,
do bist mein Augenstern”
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Cab Calloway:
Jazz Musician
“Calloway Boogie”
Click the “Play” triangle on the bar beneath the picture ...
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Gustav Mahler
composer, conductor
“Titan”, 1
Symphony No. 1
Performed by Valery Gergiev
and the London Symphony Orchestra
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Arnold Schönberg:
Composer
String Quartet
(cover art unknown, so image is a
portrait of Schönberg painted
by Egon Schiele)
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Anton Webern
Composer
“Five Movements for
String Quartet”
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Alban Berg:
Composer
Lyric Suite for String Quartet
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John Cage:
musician
Variations: Part One on left; Part Two on right
(recording from a record, permit a few moments for the needle to fall)


Click Here to see the
John Cage: The Anarchy of Silence
Exhibit Announcement
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Philip Glass:
Musician
Music in Twelve Parts; Part I on left; Part VI on right
(recording from a record, permit a few moments for the needle to fall)

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Vinegar and Rum:
Donald McPherson and Tetuzi Akiyama, Musicians
“Grotto” off of their album “Vinegar & Rum”
(recording from a record, permit a few moments for the needle to fall)
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Jimmy Giuffre:
Jazz musician
Side A of his album “Free Fall”
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II) Worthwhile Articles on Music:
From the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, a large selection of essays on song:
Special Issue: Song, Songs, and Singing:
The Journal of Music and Meaning:
Diverse online articles with free access
A Husserlian analysis of subjective temporality in music:
“My Favourite Things and the Experience of Subjective Temporality: A Case Study of Rainbow’s ‘All Night Long’,” by Marko Aho.
An article exploring discordant sound and its relation to beautiful music:
“Beautiful Noise,” by Will Swanson.
A phenomenological framework for a new theory of music:
“Musical Presence: Towards a New Philosophy of Music,” by Charles Ford.
On the nature of the thought involved in making music:
“Musical Thinking” by Jerrold Levinson
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III) Worthwhile Links to Material on and By Musicians, Labels, History, Theory, Etc.:
On Miles Davis
On Philip Glass
Music Theory Resources
On Woody Guthrie
Music Theory Lessons
David Byrne & Brian Eno
On Tom Waits
Jazz Discographies
On Leonard Cohen
A History of Jazz
On John Coltrane
7 Digital Indie Store
On Sonny Rollins
A History of Punk Music
On Tal Farlow
Fat Possum Records
On the Beatles
On John Cage
On Bob Dylan
On Musical Instruments
The Society for Strange and Ancient Instruments
On the Chinese Erhu
A History of the Guitar
On the Banjo’s Roots
A History of the Piano
A History of the Vibes
NPR Music Documentaries

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IV) On Censorship in Music:
Definition:
“Censorship:” its etymology dates from 443 b.c.e. as naming the duties of the Roman censor who counted, assessed, and evaluated the populace; it is the practice of officially examining materials and suppressing the unacceptable parts or whole examples; it includes the suppression of expression that may be considered harmful or objectionable to the general public as determined by an authority. Music censorship is further defined as: “… any discriminatory act that advocated or allows the suppression, control, or banning of music or music-related works against the wishes of its creator or intended audience” (Eric Nuzum, Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America (2001), 7).
Standard Directing Censorship:
The First Amendment to the American Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Bill of Rights, I; adopted 12/15/1791).
There are no federal laws censoring music unless it is deemed obscene or otherwise criminal. “Obscene” is defined as appealing to one’s “prurient interest [unwholesome sexual interest]; portrays sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value” (Miller v. California, 1973). The Telecommunications Act requires the FCC to issue guidelines for the labeling of sexual, violent, or mature materials unless the entertainment industry (the RIAA) agreed to a system of self-imposed labeling, which it did. That which would be labeled included recordings with lyrics with “strong language or that explicitly referred to sex, violence, or substance abuse” (FTC government report) wherein each record company would decide which albums thus contained “explicit” lyrics.
Federal law limits the right of free speech and free press for reasons of defamation, obscenity, and certain forms of state censorship, especially in times of war. This has been expanded by court rulings to include the consideration whether one receives federal funding, then one’s right to free speech may be limited, and the reason as to causing “harm.” In regards to music, “harmful” was defined (in the 1997 Louisiana house bill 1236, then made an industry standard) as being any musical medium that “advocates rape, prostitution, homicide, unlawful ritual acts, suicide, the commission of crimes because of the victim’s race, gender, color, religion, or national origin, the use of controlled substances, or the unlawful use of alcohol.” It is legal for private companies or individuals in positions of authority to censor what they sell and otherwise broadcast.
Philosophical History on Censorship:
Plato’s Republic (cf., bk III, X) makes an argument for the censorship of some types of poetry in the ideal state because poetry can best and most easily encourage virtue or vice in the souls of the young. In particular, the two virtues most easily swayed by poetry include courage and temperance. It is so effective because of the idea of mimesis, imitation, wherein narrative encourages an imitation (the poet imitating the character of which s/he writes, the reader/listener likewise “becomes” the character of which s/he is told). All learning operates in this way, but poetry is most dangerous because it is not teaching truth, but things that may be mistaken as truth; poets, he argues, misrepresent the natures of the subjects about which/whom they write, most notably, about the gods. These products, then, “maim the thoughts of those who hear them” (602b6-8).
Examples of Censored Music:
Pro-Confederate Songs, e.g., “I’m a Good ol’ Rebel,” “Bonnie Blue Flag,” were banned in 1865.
The Blues song “Hoochie Coochie Man” was banned in 1931.
Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You” was censored for radio broadcast in 1954 to remove the line “I get no kick from cocaine” and was replaced with “I get perfume from Spain.”
Rosemary Clooney’s “Mambo Italiano” was censored by the American Broadcasting Company in 1954 for its failing to meet the standards of “good taste.”
Billie Holiday’s version of “Love for Sale” was banned for references to prostitution in 1956.
The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was banned in 1967 for its sexually suggestive lyrics.
A radio station in El Paso, TX banned the broadcasting of Bob Dylan songs in 1968 because “the lyrics were hard to understand.”
Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill” was banned in 1975 for its references to birth control.
In 1987, Jello Biafra, lead of The Dead Kennedys is acquitted on charges of distributing pornography for his band’s album art, which was by H. R. Giger, on the album “Frankenchrist.”
In 1990, a parental warning sticker system was adopted by the recording industry (in response to the Parents Music Resource Center’s lobby of 1985) to identify all records deemed explicit. In the same year, Missouri legislators introduced a bill to forbid the sale of records with lyrics that are violent, sexually explicit, or perverse; similar legislation was introduced in 20 other states.
A Tennessee judge ruled in 1990 that 2 Live Crew’s “Nasty as they Wanna Be” and N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” are obscene under state law and the conviction for selling these records could bring fines between $10,000 and $100,000 dollars depending upon the involvement of minors in the offence. In the same year, police in Dade County, FL arrested three retailers selling copies of the former album to minors. Two members of the group were arrested after a performance on obscenity charges; they were eventually acquitted of all charges.
Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich was quoted in Broadcasting and Cable magazine in 1991 that he strongly encourages advertisers to pull all ads from radio stations that broadcast rap music.
Madonna’s song “Erotica” was banned for all sale and play in Lebanon and she and her music, including this song, were banned from entering and being sold and played in Vatican City in 1992 due to its sexual theme and suggestive lyrics. Its video was later banned from airing on MTV in America.
Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” was banned in 1995; he changed the lyrics after protests about their content being anti-Semitic.
Police intervened in 2000 and censored the “Up in Smoke Tour” starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Ice Cube, and Eminem citing the concert’s inclusion of a video showing robbery and partially nude women.
Management of the Six Flags Amusement Park in Darien Lakes, NY banned Marilyn Manson from performing in 2003 at the park as part of the Ozzfest Tour; no other acts were removed from the bill. In the same year, officials at Giant Stadium in NJ refused to host the tour because of Marilyn Manson’s inclusion in the bill; it went to court where they ordered that as a public facility they had to be available on a “content neutral” basis.
A radio station in Birmingham, AL censored The Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane” in 2009 to eliminate the curse “goddamn” from their lyrics for the justification that “people find it offensive.”
Dire Straights’ “Money for Nothing” (1985) was banned in 2011 from radio play in Canada by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council for its use of the word “faggot” as a violation of the human rights clauses of their code of ethics.
Lady Gaga’s single “Born This Way” was censored in 2011 to eliminate the lyric “No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I’m on the right track, baby” by Malaysian radio for violation of the country’s rules against promoting homosexuality.
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Music Resources
