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Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer
The research question stems from a desire to discover what makes the guitar music of Leo Brouwer and Toru Takemitsu so conducive to aesthetic investigation, from the viewpoint of both a listener and performer of their works. The research approach is that of viewing their music through a philosophica...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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College of Music
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613258969513984 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Du Plessis, Harm |
| author2 | Bezuidenhout, Morné |
| author_browse | Bezuidenhout, Morné Du Plessis, Harm |
| author_facet | Bezuidenhout, Morné Du Plessis, Harm |
| author_sort | Du Plessis, Harm |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The research question stems from a desire to discover what makes the guitar music of Leo Brouwer and Toru Takemitsu so conducive to aesthetic investigation, from the viewpoint of both a listener and performer of their works. The research approach is that of viewing their music through a philosophical lens provided by the notions and attitudes of postmodernism, especially through the aesthetic writings of Jean François Lyotard. Instead of embarking on an analytical investigation in order to prove the aesthetic elements perceived in the music, existing analytical research is consulted and conclusions drawn from this material as it relates to the philosophical ideas of the dissertation .The research question answered is whether there is an aesthetic common ground between Brouwer and Takemitsu that can be linked to the presence of the traditional aesthetic principles of their respective native countries in their guitar compositions. The presence of such aesthetic qualities is indeed perceptible in their music and it is the investigative aim of the dissertation to highlight these qualities as they relate to postmodern notions of time and existence. The aesthetic theory of the sublime as relayed by Lyotard functions as the philosophical premise of the dissertation. The temporal quality that Lyotard observes in the sublime is of particular importance in the selection of this philosopher's work as a theoretical framework. It will be shown that the temporal aspect which Lyotard identifies as an integral part of the sublime aesthetic is what provides the common ground between the musical of the two composers' works. The dissertation proceeds in the first chapter to explain some of the important notions of postmodernism, as they relate to the current topic, concerning the temporal aspect of human experience, in the study of history and from a philosophical view point. This leads to the ideas about temporality as an important aspect of the aesthetic of the sublime as posited by Lyotard in the second part of the first chapter. In this part of the text, reference is made to the composers Brouwer and Takemitsu in order to situate their musical philosophies and aesthetics in the philosophical framework that is provided in this chapter. A bridge between the philosophical framework is provided by devoting the second chapter to an investigation into the ideas by Jonathan D. Kramer about the temporal aspect of music. This provides a link to Lyotard's observation of the temporal aspect of the sublime. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20718 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:17.409Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | College of Music |
| publisherStr | College of Music |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20718 Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer Du Plessis, Harm Bezuidenhout, Morné Music The research question stems from a desire to discover what makes the guitar music of Leo Brouwer and Toru Takemitsu so conducive to aesthetic investigation, from the viewpoint of both a listener and performer of their works. The research approach is that of viewing their music through a philosophical lens provided by the notions and attitudes of postmodernism, especially through the aesthetic writings of Jean François Lyotard. Instead of embarking on an analytical investigation in order to prove the aesthetic elements perceived in the music, existing analytical research is consulted and conclusions drawn from this material as it relates to the philosophical ideas of the dissertation .The research question answered is whether there is an aesthetic common ground between Brouwer and Takemitsu that can be linked to the presence of the traditional aesthetic principles of their respective native countries in their guitar compositions. The presence of such aesthetic qualities is indeed perceptible in their music and it is the investigative aim of the dissertation to highlight these qualities as they relate to postmodern notions of time and existence. The aesthetic theory of the sublime as relayed by Lyotard functions as the philosophical premise of the dissertation. The temporal quality that Lyotard observes in the sublime is of particular importance in the selection of this philosopher's work as a theoretical framework. It will be shown that the temporal aspect which Lyotard identifies as an integral part of the sublime aesthetic is what provides the common ground between the musical of the two composers' works. The dissertation proceeds in the first chapter to explain some of the important notions of postmodernism, as they relate to the current topic, concerning the temporal aspect of human experience, in the study of history and from a philosophical view point. This leads to the ideas about temporality as an important aspect of the aesthetic of the sublime as posited by Lyotard in the second part of the first chapter. In this part of the text, reference is made to the composers Brouwer and Takemitsu in order to situate their musical philosophies and aesthetics in the philosophical framework that is provided in this chapter. A bridge between the philosophical framework is provided by devoting the second chapter to an investigation into the ideas by Jonathan D. Kramer about the temporal aspect of music. This provides a link to Lyotard's observation of the temporal aspect of the sublime. 2016-07-25T11:34:24Z 2016-07-25T11:34:24Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MMus http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20718 eng application/pdf College of Music Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Music Du Plessis, Harm Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| title_full | Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| title_fullStr | Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| title_short | Lyotard's subline : its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of Toru Takemitsu and Leo Brouwer |
| title_sort | lyotard s subline its manifestation in the musical aesthetic of toru takemitsu and leo brouwer |
| topic | Music |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20718 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duplessisharm lyotardssublineitsmanifestationinthemusicalaestheticoftorutakemitsuandleobrouwer |