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BY ALFRED SCHTZ
i
lVlusic is a meaningful
contextwhichis not bound to a conYet
this
contextcan be communischeme.
meaningful
ceptual
cated. The processof communication
betweencomposerand
an individualperlistenernormallyrequiresan intermediary:
former
or a groupofcoperformers.
Amongall theseparticipants
thereprevailsocialrelations
ofa highly
structure.
complicated
of thisstructure
is thepurposeof
To analyzecertainelements
thispaper. The discussion
is notaimedat problemscommonly
the
realm
of
to
the
so-called
ofmusic,although
relegated
sociology
itisbelievedthatan investigation
ofthesocialrelationships
among
theparticipants
in themusicalprocessis a prerequisite
forany
researchin thisfield;noris it concerned
witha phenomenology
of musicalexperience,althoughsome elementary
observations
of
the
structure
music
will
have
to
be
made.
The chief
regarding
of our analysisconsists
in theparticular
interest
character
of all
socialinteractions
connectedwiththemusicalprocess:theyare
to theactoras wellas to theaddressee,
doubtlessmeaningful
but
is notcapableof beingexpressed
thismeaningstructure
in conbut not
ceptualterms;theyare foundedupon communication,
a
semantic
used
the
communicator
as a
system by
primarily
upon
andbyhispartner
schemeofexpression
as a schemeofinterpretation.1 For thisveryreasonit can be hopedthata studyof the
connectedwiththemusicalprocessmaylead
socialrelationships
validformanyotherformsof socialintercourse,
to someinsights
i The systemof musicalnotation,as will be shown,has quite anotherfunction
and a merelysecondaryone.
MAKING
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77
78
SOCIAL
RESEARCH
admittedlythe paramount vehicle of communication;its conmake it the outceptual structureand its power of typification
tool
for
the
of
standing
conveying meaning. There is even a
strongtendencyin contemporarythoughtto identifymeaning
with its semanticexpressionand to consider language, speech,
symbols,significantgestures,as the fundamentalcondition of
social intercourseas such. Even Mead's highlyoriginalendeavor
to explain the origin of language by an interplayof significant
- his famous example of the dogfight
- startsfrom the
gestures
suppositionthat a prelinguistic"conversation"of "attitudes"is
possible. It is not necessaryto accept Mead's basic position of
"social behaviorism"in order to admit that,as has so oftenhappened, he has seen a crucial problem more clearlythan others.
Nevertheless,the solution he offersonly seeminglyremovesthe
difficulties
connectedwith the basic issue, namely,whetherthe
communicativeprocess is really the foundationof all possible
social relationships,or whether,on the contrary,all communication presupposesthe existenceof some kind of social interaction
which, though it is an indispensablecondition of all possible
does not enterthe communicativeprocessand is
communication,
not capable of beinggraspedby it. It is currently
ratherfashionable to dismissproblemsof this kind with a haughtyreference
to the question of the priorityof the chickenor the egg. Such
an unfamiliarity
an attitudenotonlyreflects
withthephilosophical
issue discussedby the Schoolmenunder the heading of priority,
but also constitutesa self-madeobstacle to a serious analysisof
the various problems of foundation importantespecially for
the social sciences.
As faras the questionunderscrutinyis concerned,the concrete
researchesof many sociologistsand philosophershave aimed at
certainformsof social intercoursewhich necessarilyprecede all
communication.Wiese's "contact-situations,"
Scheler'sperceptual
a
alter
to
certain
the
extent
of
ego,
theory
Cooley'sconceptof the
face-to-face
Malinowski's
of speech as
relationship,
interpretation
within
the
situation
determined
social
interaction,
originating
by
MAKING
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79
8o
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never completedowing to the author's tragicdeath in the concentrationcamp of Buchenwaldin July 1944.5
Halbwachs' basic position is well known. He assumed that
all kinds of memoryare determinedby a social frameworkand
that individual memorycannot be conceived of without the
assumptionof a collective memoryfrom which all individual
recollectionderives. This basic principle- which it is not our
concernto criticizehere- was applied to the problemof musical
communicationbecause the authorfeltthatthe verystructureof
music- its developmentwithin the flux of time, its detachment
- offersan
fromanythingthat lasts,its realizationby re-creation
excellentopportunityfor demonstratingthat there is no other
a set of recollectionswithall theirshades
possibilityof preserving
and details except by recourse to the collective memory. In
otherwords,Halbwachs was primarilyconcernedwith analyzing
the social structureof music. Curiouslyenough,he divided the
realm of music into two distinctparts: music as experiencedby
the educated musicianand music as experiencedby the layman.
With regard to the former,Halbwachs came to the conclusion
thatit is firstof all the possibilityof translatingmusic into visual
- that is, the systemof musical notation- which makes
symbols
transmission
of music possible. To be sure,the signsof musical
notationare not imagesof the sounds. They are, however,means
of expressingin a conventionallanguageall the commandswhich
the musicianmustobey if he wantsto reproducea piece of music
properly. The conventionalcharacterof the signs of musical
notation and their combinationconsistsin the fact that they
have meaningmerelyby continuousreferenceto the group which
inventedand adopted them. This group, the ' 'society'' of educated musicians,lives in a world exclusivelyfilled with sounds
and is interestedin nothingelse but creatingor listeningto a
combinationof sounds. Even the inventionof new combinations
5 Four chapters from the manuscript were published posthumously under the
title, "Mmoire et socit," in L'Anne sociologique, 3rd Series, Vol. I (Paris 1949)
pp. 11-197.
81
82
SOCIAL
RESEARCH
MAKING
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83
84
SOCIAL
RESEARCH
MAKING
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85
86
SOCIAL
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87
88
SOCIAL
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not
is itslifebut notassertion;expressiveness,
unconsunvmated
symbol.Articulation
expression."
15borneor thesespecincmeansare essentialto any Kina or music,otnersDeiong
melody,tonalharmony,
technique
merelyto a particularmusicalculture. Rhythm,
of diminution,and the so-calledformsbased on what Tovey calls the larger
and so on, are certainlycharacteristic
such as Sonata,Rondo,Variations,
harmony,
of themusicalcultureof thenineteenth
century.It maybe hoped thatintensified
MAKING
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go
therewere at all.17 It may come as a completesurpriseto him
that the main theme of the second movementof Beethoven's
PianoforteSonata in d-minor,Op. 31, No. 2, takesas much time
in the mere clock sense- namely,one minute- as the last movementof the same sonataup to the end of the exposition.18
The precedingremarksserve to clarifythe particularsocial
relationshipbetweencomposerand beholder. Althoughseparated
by hundredsof years,the latter participateswith quasi simulwith
taneityin theformer'sstreamofconsciousnessby performing
him step by step the ongoingarticulationof his musical thought.
The beholder,thus,is unitedwiththecomposerby a timedimension commonto both,whichis nothingotherthana derivedform
ofthevividpresentsharedby thepartnersin a genuineface-to-face
relation19 such as prevailsbetween speaker and listener.
But is thisreconstruction
of a vivid present,thisestablishment
of a quasi simultaneity,
specificto the relationshipbetween the
streamof consciousnessof the composerand thatof the beholder?
Can it not also be foundin therelationshipbetweenthe readerof
a letterwith its writer,the studentof a scientificbook with its
of the
author,the high school boy who learns the demonstration
rule of the hypotenusewith Pythagoras? Certainly,in all these
cases the single phases of the author's articulatedthoughtare
- thatis, stepby step- coperformed
or reperformed
polythetically
and
thus
a
of
the
both
streamsof
by
quasi simultaneity
recipient,
book, forinstance,
thoughttakesplace. The readerof a scientific
builds up word by word the meaningof a sentence,sentenceby
sentencethat of a paragraph,paragraphby paragraphthat of a
17We do not need the reference
to the specificexperienceof listeningto music
of innerand outertime. The hand
theincommensurability
in orderto understand
of our watchmay run equally over half the dial, whetherwe wait beforethe
door of a surgeonoperatingon a persondear to us or whetherwe are havinga
facts.
good timein congenialcompany. All theseare well-known
is Donald FrancisTovey,Beethoven(London-NewYork 1945) p. 57.
19This term,hereand in the following
is not used in the sensethat
paragraphs,
CharlesHortonCooleyused it in Social Organization(New York 1937)^ns- 3~5*it
in such a relationsharetimeand space while
merelythattheparticipants
signifies
it lasts. An analysisof Cooley'sconceptcan be foundin my article,"The Homecomer,"in AmericanJournalof Sociology,vol. 50, no. 5 (March 1945) p. 37.
91
thesepolythetic
chapter. But once havingcoperformed
stepsof
theconceptualmeaningof thissentence(paragraph,
constituting
the
chapter), readermaygraspthe outcomeof thisconstitutive
process,the resulting
conceptualmeaning,in a singleglance
20
as Husserlputsit thatis,independently
ofthe
monothetically,
in
which
and
which
this
has
by
polythetic
steps
meaning been
constituted.In the same way I maygraspmonothetically
the
of
the
theorem
without
restartmeaning
Pythagorean
a2-j-b2=:c2,
thesinglementaloperations
ofderivingit stepby
ingto perform
from
certain
assured
I
and
step
premises,
maydo so evenif I have
howto demonstrate
thetheorem.
forgotten
The meaningof a musicalwork,21
is essentially
of a
however,
structure.
It
cannot
be
It
polythetical
graspedmonothetically.
consistsin thearticulated
occurrence
in innertime,
step-by-step
in theverypolythetic
constitutional
itself.
I maygivea
process
nameto a specific
piece of music,callingit "MoonlightSonata"
or "NinthSymphony";
I mayevensay,"Thesewerevariations
with
a finalein theformof a passacaglia,"or characterize,
as certain
notesare proneto do, theparticular
moodor emotion
program
thispieceof musicis supposedto have evokedin me. But the
musicalcontent
itsverymeaning,
can be graspedmerelyby
itself,
oneself
in
the
thus
reimmersing
ongoingflux,by reproducing
thearticulated
musicaloccurrence
as it unfoldsin polythetic
steps
in innertime,a processitselfbelonging
to thedimension
ofinner
time. Anditwill"takeas muchtime"toreconstitute
theworkin
as to experience
recollection
it forthefirst
time. In bothcasesI
thequasi simultaneity
haveto re-establish
of mystreamof consciousnesswiththatof the composerdescribedhereinbefore.22
20Husserl,Ideas (citedabove) 118, 119,pp. 334 ff.
21Also of othertime-objects
such as dance or poetry(see footnote22).
22This thesisis simplya corollaryto the other
- that the meaningcontext
of musicis not relatedto a conceptualscheme. A poem, for instance,may also
have a conceptualcontent,and this,of course,may be graspedmonothetically.
I can tell in one or two sentencesthe storyof the ancientmariner,and in fact
thisis donein theauthor'sgloss.But in so faras thepoeticalmeaningof Coleridge's
- that is, in so far as it is
- I can
poem surpassesthe conceptualmeaning
poetry
onlybringit beforemymindby recitingor readingit frombeginningto end.
SOCIAL RESEARCH
92
We have therefore
the followingsituation: two seriesof events
in innertime,one belongingto the streamof consciousnessof the
composer,theotherto thestreamof consciousnessof thebeholder,
are lived throughin simultaneity,
whichsimultaneity
is createdby
the ongoingfluxof the musical process. It is the thesisof the
presentpaper thatthissharingof theother'sfluxof experiencesin
innertime,thislivingthrougha vivid presentin common,constituteswhat we called in our introductory
paragraphsthe mutual
tuning-inrelationship,the experienceof the "We," which is at
thefoundationof all possiblecommunication. The peculiarityof
the musical processof communicationconsistsin the essentially
characterof thecommunicatedcontent,thatis to say,in
polythetic
the factthatboth the fluxof the musicaleventsand the activities
by which they are communicated,belong to the dimension of
inner time. This statementseems to hold good for any kind of
music. There is, however,one kind of music- the polyphonic
music of the westernworld- which has the magic power of
realizingby its specificmusical means the possibilityof living
simultaneouslyin two or more fluxesof events. In polyphonic
writingeach voice has its particularmeaning; each representsa
seriesof, so to speak, autarchicmusical events; but this flux is
designedto roll on in simultaneitywith other series of musical
events,not less autarchicin themselves,but coexistingwith the
into a
formerand combiningwiththemby thisverysimultaneity
new meaningfularrangement.23
So far we have investigatedthe social relationshipbetween
composerand beholder. What we have foundto be the outstand- that is, the sharing of
ing featureof musical communication
- holds good whetherthis
the ongoingfluxof the musicalcontent
or through
processoccursmerelyin the beholder'srecollection,24
23See, for instance, the Brahms song, "Wir wandelten wir zwei zusammen," in
the introductionof which the walking togetherof the two lovers is expressed by
the specific musical means of a canon, or the same device used in the Credo of
Bach's B-minor Mass for expressingthe mysteryof the Trinity ("Et in unum").
24In this connection, one recalls Brahm's dictum: "If I want to listen to a
fine performanceof 'Don Giovanni,' I light a good cigar and stretch out on my
sofa."
MAKING
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94
ofeventsin theouterworld- in our case thefluxofaudible sounds
- it can be said thatthesocialrelationshipbetweenperformer
and
listeneris foundedupon the commonexperienceof living simultaneouslyin severaldimensionsof time.
v
The samesituation,thepluridimensionality
oftimesimultaneously
lived throughby man and fellowman, occursin the relationship
betweentwo or more individualsmakingmusic together,which
we are now preparedto investigate. If we accept Max Weber's
famous definition,according to which a social relationshipis
"the conduct of a pluralityof personswhich accordingto their
subjectivemeaningare mutuallyconcernedwith each otherand
orientedbyvirtueof thisfact,"thenboth therelationshipprevailand listenerand thatprevailingbetween
ingbetweenintermediary
fallunderthisdefinition.But thereis an important
coperformers
differencebetween them. The listener'scoperformingof the
polytheticsteps in which the musical contentunfoldsis merely
an internalactivity(althoughas an "action involvingthe action
of othersand being orientedby themin its course" undoubtedly
a social actionwithinWeber'sdefinition). The coperformers(let
us say a soloistaccompaniedby a keyboardinstrument)have to
executeactivitiesgearinginto the outerworldand thusoccurring
in spatializedoutertime. Consequently,each coperformer's
action
is orientednotonlyby thecomposer'sthoughtand his relationship
to the audience but also reciprocallyby the experiencesin inner
and outertimeofhis fellowperformer.Technically,each of them
findsin the music sheet before him only that portion of the
musical contentwhich the composerhas assigned to his instrumentfortranslationinto sound. Each of themhas, therefore,
to
take into account what the otherhas to execute in simultaneity.
He has not only to interprethis own part,whichas such remains
but he has also to anticipatethe other
necessarilyfragmentary,
- part and, even more,
of his- the other's
player'sinterpretation
the other'santicipationsof his own execution. Either'sfreedom
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g6
Our analysisof makingmusic togetherhas been restrictedto
what Halbwachs calls the musician's music. Yet there is in
principle no differencebetween the performanceof a modern
orchestraor chorus and people sittingaround a campfireand
singingto the strummingof a guitar or a congregationsinging
hymnsunder the leadership of the organ. And there is no
differencein principle between the performanceof a string
at a jam sessionof accomplished
quartetand the improvisations
jazz players. These examples simplygive additional supportto
our thesisthatthesystemofmusicalnotationis merelya technical
device and accidentalto the social relationshipprevailingamong
the performers.This social relationshipis founded upon the
dimensionsof time simultanepartakingin commonof different
ouslylived throughby the participants. On the one hand, there
is the innertimein which the fluxof the musicaleventsunfolds,
in polytheticsteps
re-creates
a dimensionin whicheach performer
the
of
themusicalthought
(eventuallyanonymous)composerand
by which he is also connectedwith the listener. On the other,
makingmusictogetheris an eventin outertime,presupposingalso
a face-to-face
relationship,that is, a communityof space, and it
is thisdimensionwhichunifiesthe fluxesof inner time and warinto a vivid present.
rantstheirsynchronization
VI
thatthe
of thispaper,thehope was expressed
At thebeginning
in
involved
makingmusic
analysisof the social relationship
relaof thetuning-in
to a clarification
mightcontribute
together
as
such.
It
appears
tionshipand theprocessof communication
a
mutual
thatall possiblecommunication
tuning-in
presupposes
and theaddresseeof the
betweenthecommunicator
relationship
is established
Thisrelationship
communication.
bythereciprocal
in innertime,byliving
oftheother'sfluxofexperiences
sharing
thistogetherness
vivid
a
byexperiencing
together,
present
through
doestheother'sconduct
as a "We." Onlywithinthisexperience
in on him- that is,
tuned
the
to
becomemeaningful
partner
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