When is considered a musical work a true Art Work piece?

by Cesar Munoz 

Music is not an art and believe me, when we clarify this, many controversies will end. Music is not an art, music is a language and with that language we can make works of art, but we can also make things that are not art or things that are artistically irrelevant even though they are still music.

What can be called art?

We enter into another controversy that is important to define. Obviously this is something very subjective and that anyone who wants or needs to call themselves an "artist" will accommodate it to their convenience. But I think there are certain fundamental things that we could all agree on.

When is music considered a true work of art?

Let's start a bit by strengthening this idea that music is a language and that not necessarily anything that is done with that language has to be considered a work of art.

What is a language?

A language is a system by which the human being communicates. There is written language, body language, spoken language, sign language, etc. Let's take Spanish for example [or any other language]; which is a language both written and spoken —well, Spanish is also a language because it is an agreement established with its own rules but as a language it obviously belongs to the language— and with Spanish we can make works of art like García Márquez did with Cien Años de Soledad or Cervantes with Don Quixote, but with the same Spanish we can also write the market shopping list and it would be completely absurd for the simple fact that both are written in Spanish [to put] a market list at the same level as Don Quixote . It would make no sense to compare;

"The reason for the unreason that is done to my reason, in such a way my reason weakens, that with reason I complain of your beauty"

just imagine! compare that with "a kilo of potatoes and a packet of rice" You can't! Because there is no point of comparison. 

Now let's talk about art; by definition and according to the RAE; art is 'the ability or ability to do something, a human activity through which the real world is interpreted or what is imagined is captured' and this can be captured for example; through painting, through literature or through music. So according to the dictionary; Art can be many things, but we cannot stay only with this concept, because in this set of manifestations not all are at the same level. 

In ancient Greece —which is where all of our Western culture comes from—the arts included all kinds of trades, from the sculptor to the sandal maker. So they decided to divide them and separate them from the arts that are perceived through what they considered to be the higher senses; which are hearing and sight, and they called these the superior arts . Later, in the 18th century, a Frenchman named Charles Batteux came up with the idea of ​​unifying the arts under the concepts of "beauty" and "good taste" and he called them the Fine Arts, that there were six; painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance and literature. Here also another consideration is made and that is that to enter what is called "fine arts" the works must be intended exclusively for contemplation , that is; which do not fulfill a utilitarian function. 

How do you see these concepts are quite delicate, because for example; a vase fulfills a utilitarian function —which is to be the container for the flowers— but it can have a level of elaboration that is not necessary or contributes to the well-being of the flowers, but simply generates beauty and that could turn it into a work of art. A very interesting example of this is the OP1 keyboard that came on the market in 2011. It was created by a company in Stockholm called Teenage Engineering. In 2012 the OP1 won the design award in Sweden and later the San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art incorporated it as part of its permanent exhibition. In other words, beyond its musical functionality and its versatility for sound synthesis, many consider it a work of art. Here the problem arises that when something is mass-produced it is no longer a unique piece and although it may continue to be very beautiful, it inevitably loses its value. This is where the plastic artists invented the "limited series" so that although potentially that work that the artist made could be replicated, it is only printed a certain number of times and that gives the owner of the work a certain exclusivity since the most valuable work.

In 1911 Ricciotto Canudo added to the list an art that did not exist when the first classification was made ; what is cinema and that is why cinema is known as the seventh art e. Later, other proposals such as photography and comics followed, and now with the digital world, we are going to have to include even NFTs. 

But we cannot forget that these are classifications established by individuals, by thinkers, by philosophers, which are nothing more than points of view that have been consolidated over the years and have become part of our culture. The important thing is that there is a need to give their place and value to the works that deserve a separate place. 

And since I am also a thinker, an individual and someone who cares and is concerned about the subject, I am going to dare to give my own definition, without trying to establish with this a universal truth, but simply; sharing my point of view. For me;

...an Art Work is a unique piece that fulfills the sublime function of elevating the spirit with its grace, its beauty and its depth and that is capable of modifying the soul of the human being for the better. 

That to me is a work of art. Because if we do not limit the concept of art to what is at the service of a higher morality, then we would also have to consider what many thieves and criminals do as art. Nor can art be banal, simple, flat, or predictable, because what is predictable is done by anyone and what anyone can do has no special value. This is why 'a fried egg' can be very rich and can be very well done, but the fact that I make a fried egg does not make me a chef. The fact that I make a note reminding me that 'I have to pay the rent', even if it is very well written, does not make me a writer. 

What do I mean when I say that a work of art should elevate the spirit of the person?

When I was studying at the university, on Wednesday afternoons I went to the Museum of Fine Arts, this was in the City of Boston, and I always went there to visit a painting by the painter Renoir called the Dance at Bougival (La danse à Bougival). I contemplated that painting many times, for several years, and each time I discovered something new. First there is something and that is that the painter freezes an everyday moment, a moment that one easily overlooks and that perhaps you do not give the importance you should give it. It's any given day in a town in France and this couple is living a beautiful moment; that it is "the moment of flirting" the man looking for a party and she with a "don't touch me" face and those behind calm with their lives, completely unaware, because there everyone is living her moment.

So this way of amplifying everyday life, and which also allows one to see their own history or their own emotions portrayed in the 19th century, is something that broadens your life, that widens your heart and invites you to see your everyday moments. with other eyes And from that you are no longer the same.

I was so marked by that painting; that I promised myself to return one day to dance with them with my partner… and 20 years later I did!

There is a work of art that is among my favorites and that is the II mov. from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 . This is like a spring of inexhaustible beauty, conclusive proof that life is possible to "manufacture things" colossally beautiful and before that magnitude everything becomes small —including your problems— and one stays listening and contemplating that like who is suspended in the space seeing the immensity of the universe. Then it is impossible to refuse to believe that there is something infinitely superior that inspires you and renews your desire to live; that's Johann Sebastian Bach and that is why today his music continues to sound and continues to be one of the supreme references of what can be achieved by masterfully combining musical notes. It is impossible to listen to Bach without feeling that something intangible rises within one. 

I also remember when I was reading García Márquez 's Love in the Times of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos del cólera) , in the book there was a character who spoke wonders of his country and its paradisiacal beaches. And when he returns for the first time in many years; he sees the disorder, he sees the garbage, he sees the poverty and he says:

"The memory of the heart eliminates the bad memories and magnificent the good ones and thanks to this artifice we manage to cope with the past"

And that phrase became a very important weapon for me to combat nostalgia and to sincere memories. That is to say; it transformed me and elevated me like Bach, like Renoir, and like so many others who marked my life and determined for me "what should be art" and for this reason I cannot expect less, and for this reason I maintain that No can nor should be less. 

It's about uplifting the spirit with grace, beauty and depth, modifying ourselves and transforming ourselves into someone better —even if it's just a little bit— …And yes, there are other things that belong to the world of entertainment, in the case of music; there are many songs that entertain, but that don't have you completely, because they only touch the epidermis of the most basic and predictable emotions —that's not necessarily wrong— what's wrong is to compare them with works of art. Because they are very different things. When they say that "music must be saved" in reality the only thing that must be saved is the distances. 

Music isn't an art just because it's music, but thank God there are enough musical masterpieces out there to keep lifting us up for the rest of our lives.

SOURCE: 

This article was originally published in video format on the YouTube channel of La Cata Musical on February 15, 2022, and and translated with a little help of GoogleTranslate™ <https://blog.ama.education/2023/02/cuando-se-considera-una-obra-musical.html> Copyright © César Muñoz, Some rights reserved.