La componente amodale. Forma ed espressione in musica / The “amodal” component. Form and expression in music
Abstract
My main hypothesis is that many expressive systems, and music in a special way, require for their mode of operation a semiotic component not specific but undifferentiated (amodal), of a primary and fundamental nature. This grammatical component organizes and leads, according to its semantic goals, the resources of the strictly musical grammar. The hypothesis is explained through an investigation of some well known works of Beethoven (the Adagio from the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Diabelli Variations, and mainly the first movement of the String Quartet op. 132).
The reference to musicological analyses shows their failure in explaining the relationship between musical form and semantic structures, but mostly shows how strong and meaningful suggestions they offer about a delineation of a semiotic level which still lacks a true definition of its nature. So, also from some classical musicologists we can seize the idea that the theory of musical form grasps just a superficial level, concealing some more decisive expressive foundation.
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