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Confrontation
of Feeling and Understanding

Educational Differences in the Discussion

Musical discussion is the confrontation of feeling and understanding in the composer, but also in the music listener.
This discussion may be very easy and playful as we experience with the sages, but it may also turn into a tough conflict as we witness in the case of the uneducated.

The Feeling on the Path towards Unity

During the process of gaining knowledge our feeling aspires in all simplicity to the fields of higher orders, because knowing higher orders releases more energy in our feeling, by which we listeners feel emotionally strengthened – in other words, we find ourselves confirmed in our feeling.

Inner Systematics of Musical Structuring

According to the inner systematics of the composition the path of gaining knowledge starts from the musical sound-space, and leads through the motif-space and the sequence-space to musical unity, which is realized in the harmony.

The Contradiction between Unity and Diversity in the Relative Musical Force-Fields

Due to its inherent inertia our understanding initially offers a certain resistance to this process of gaining knowledge; because, although it perceives more unity in the fields of higher musical order, at the same time it perceives less diversity.

On the path of knowledge, however, the understanding, owing to its nature, strives for diversity and is therefore confronted with our feeling.
It tries to explain to the feeling that with the vertical direction of knowledge, which leads into the depth, the musical way towards sentimentalism is paved, and that this musical process of gaining knowledge must end where one will also find the schmaltz.
Seen from its desire for diversity, our understanding does not see any sense in such a development, and makes it clear to the feeling with the necessary obstinacy.

The Feeling Strives Always towards Greater Unity

And while our feeling listens to these words of reason of the understanding, it looks longingly from the musical sound-space to the motif-space, and its eyes begin to dream: only too much would it like to enter the motif-space and to unfold there happily, rather than here in the rigid limitations of the musical sound-space.

The Understanding Follows the Feeling on the
Path of Knowledge

So, finally, the understanding gives in and follows the feeling into the world of the motifs.
Certainly, in this subtler musical world of cognition of the motifs it feels more awake, and despite all the motif movements it has not lost track of the tones – of course it still has them all in sight and watches them carefully.

Yet here – in the world of the motifs – our understanding feels that life and the process of musical unfoldment is too simple, a bit too plain. Therefore, it keeps its cognizing eye on the tones – which surround the motif-space – like an astrologer who continually gazes from his boring earth into the highly fascinating space.

The Feeling Aspires Simplicity

While the understanding is on the lookout, our feeling, in an unobserved moment, has already peeked into the next world, the world of the sequence, where it beholds an even greater unity, and its eyes become even more shining.
Because there, our feeling discovers a world of even greater order, a dimension of even greater simplicity.

The Birth of Doubt

As our understanding notices this touching glance, it begins to doubt the qualities of the feeling.
For immediately it realizes very clearly: this is where the journey is to continue to – away from the stars, and into the life of the clan.

The Feeling Drags the Understanding along to the
Ancient Mothers of Music

Therefore, the understanding decides from this moment on to go backwards for safety’s sake, because on its further way with the feeling into the realm of the sequence, its beloved stars in the musical sound-space appear more and more remote and indistinct.

But the feeling drags it along into the realm of the sequences, to the ancient mothers of music, from which all musical motifs emerge – like children emerge from their mother – before they unfold into melodies on their individual life-paths.

The Dimension of the Harmony is Incomprehensible to the Understanding from Outside

Having reached the world of the sequence, only every now and then the understanding dares to cast a glance sideways, but otherwise keeps its eye of cognition directed outside to the worlds of the motifs and beyond it, to the world of the musical sound-space.
The understanding dares not to look behind itself into the realm of the harmony, because even a glance sideways shows that the musical simplicity of the world of the sequence has reached a degree which the understanding cannot readily identify with.

The Understanding Begins to Anticipate Higher
Musical Orders

The feeling, however, indulges in its own happiness of life, and a discussion between feeling and understanding also reveals that the understanding actually begins to feel better in the subtler musical fields of knowledge.
Although from here the understanding can no longer perceive the distant stars of the musical sound-space, the tones, so clearly, it begins to perceive them in the motifs as well, for the motifs are permanently dealing with the shining tone waves.

And as a matter of fact, the understanding must admit that even here, in the sequences, it senses a trace of the motifs – just like concluding from the mother to the children.
Furthermore, the understanding feels more alert here in the subtler musical fields of knowledge, a sensation that is very pleasant to it; and indeed, it even believes to be more intelligent.