Early Greek Philosophy & Other Essays: Collected Works, Volume Two — John Shaqi
Early Greek Philosophy & Other Essays: Collected Works, Volume TwoNietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
PhilosophyPhilosophy
Early Greek Philosophy & Other Essays: Collected Works, Volume Two
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
Philosophy, Ancient
What we here have asserted of the relationship between language and
music must be valid too, for equal reasons concerning the relationship
of _Mime_ to _Music._ The Mime too, as the intensified symbolism of
man's gestures, is, measured by the eternal significance of music,
only a simile, which brings into expression the innermost secret
of music but very superficially, namely on the substratum of the
passionately moved human body. But if we include language also in the
category of bodily symbolism, and compare the _drama,_ according to
the canon advanced, with music, then I venture to think, a proposition
of Schopenhauer will come into the clearest light, to which reference
must be made again later on. "It might be admissible, although a purely
musical mind does not demand it, to join and adapt words or even a
clearly represented action to the pure language of tones, although the
latter, being self-sufficient, needs no help; so that our perceiving
and reflecting intellect, which does not like to be quite idle, may
meanwhile have light and analogous occupation also. By this concession
to the intellect man's attention adheres even more closely to music,
by this at the same time, too, is placed underneath that which the
tones indicate in their general metaphorless language of the heart,
a visible picture, as it were a schema, as an example illustrating a
general idea ... indeed such things will even heighten the effect
of music." (Schopenhauer, Parerga, II., "On the Metaphysics of the
Beautiful and Æsthetics," § 224.) If we disregard the naturalistic
external motivation according to which our perceiving and reflecting
intellect does not like to be quite idle when listening to music, and
attention led by the hand of an obvious action follows better--then
the drama in relation to music has been characterised by Schopenhauer
for the best reasons as a schema, as an example illustrating a general
idea: and when he adds "indeed such things will even heighten the
effect of music" then the enormous universality and originality of
vocal music, of the connection of tone with metaphor and idea guarantee
the correctness of this utterance. The music of every people begins in
closest connection with lyricism and long before absolute music can be
thought of, the music of a people in that connection passes through
the most important stages of development. If we understand this primal
lyricism of a people, as indeed we must, to be an imitation of the
artistic typifying Nature, then as the original prototype of that union
of music and lyricism must be regarded: _the duality in the essence
of language,_ already typified by Nature. Now, after discussing the
relation of music to metaphor we will fathom deeper this essence of
language.
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