In Search of the Limits of Music: What Is the Invariant of Musical Art?

Abstract

The article discusses the methods of constructing an invariant in musical art. The problem of the invariant in its final form is formulated as the problem of the limits of music. The answer to the question “what is music?” requires the formulation of its invariable properties, which are preserved in any form of acoustic realization of a musical concept. The comparison of three influential models of the invariant of music presented in the works of E. Kurt, G. Schenker and Yu.N. Kholopov allows us to draw a conclusion about a unified method for constructing the invariant of music. It is based on the idea of primary energy, which reveals itself in the course of the embodiment of an artistic conception and appears to us through the acoustic realization of a piece of music. Invariant properties permeate the structure of the musical fabric and then ascend to the most important principles of musical expressiveness, which allow the very possibility of perceiving music as a meaningful sound, in contrast to acoustic phenomena of a different origin. Therefore, the construction of the invariant of musical art requires taking into account its features at hierarchically correlated large-scale levels of organization of musical creativity, perception and thinking. This requirement remains the most general and conventional, uniting strategies for finding an invariant even in those cases when they try to search for the area of limiting invariant properties in various existential and conceptual spheres.