ADORNO On Popular Music.docx

ADORNO On Popular Music.docx

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TheodorW.Adorno

OnPopularMusic

WiththeassistanceandcollaborationofGeorgeSimpson

TheMusicalMaterial

TheTwoSpheresofMusic

[1]Popularmusic,whichproducesthestimuliwearehereinvestigating,isusuallycharacterizedbyitsdifferencefromseriousmusic.Thisdifferenceisgenerallytakenforgrantedandislookeduponasadifferenceoflevelsconsideredsowelldefinedthatmostpeopleregardthevalueswithinthemastotallyindependentofoneanother.Wedeemitnecessary,however,firstofalltotranslatetheseso-calledlevelsintomorepreciseterms,musicalaswellassocial,whichnotonlydelimitthemunequivocallybutthrowlightuponthewholesettingofthetwomusicalspheresaswell.

[2]Onepossiblemethodofachievingthisclarificationwouldbeahistoricalanalysisofthedivisionasitoccurredinmusicproductionandoftherootsofthetwomainspheres.Since,however,thepresentstudyisconcernedwiththeactualfunctionofpopularmusicinitspresentstatus,itismoreadvisabletofollowthelineofcharacterizationofthephenomenonitselfasitisgiventodaythantotraceitbacktoitsorigins.ThisisthemorejustifiedasthedivisionintothetwospheresofmusictookplaceinEuropelongbeforeAmericanpopularmusicarose.Americanmusicfromitsinceptionacceptedthedivisionassomethingpre-given,andthereforethehistoricalbackgroundofthedivisionappliestoitonlyindirectly.Henceweseek,firstofall,aninsightintothefundamentalcharacteristicsofpopularmusicinthebroadestsense.

[3]Aclearjudgmentconcerningtherelationofseriousmusictopopularmusiccanbearrivedatonlybystrictattentiontothefundamentalcharacteristicofpopularmusic:

standardization.[1]Thewholestructureofpopularmusicisstandardized,evenwheretheattemptismadetocircumventstandardization.Standardizationextendsfromthemostgeneralfeaturestothemostspecificones.Bestknownistherulethatthechorusconsistsofthirtytwobarsandthattherangeislimitedtooneoctaveandonenote.Thegeneraltypesofhitsarealsostandardized:

notonlythedancetypes,therigidityofwhosepatternisunderstood,butalsothe"characters"suchasmothersongs,homesongs,nonsenseor"novelty"songs,pseudo-nurseryrhymes,lamentsforalostgirl.Mostimportantofall,theharmoniccornerstonesofeachhit—thebeginningandtheendofeachpart--mustbeatoutthestandardscheme.Thisschemeemphasizesthemostprimitiveharmonicfactsnomatterwhathasharmonicallyintervened.Complicationshavenoconsequences.Thisinexorabledeviceguaranteesthatregardlessofwhataberrationsoccur,thehitwillleadbacktothesamefamiliarexperience,andnothingfundamentallynovelwillbeintroduced.

[4]Thedetailsthemselvesarestandardizednolessthantheform,andawholeterminologyexistsforthemsuchasbreak,bluechords,dirtynotes.Theirstandardization,however,issomewhatdifferentfromthatoftheframework.Itisnotovertlikethelatterbuthiddenbehindaveneerofindividual"effects"whoseprescriptionsarehandledastheexperts'secret,howeveropenthissecretmaybetomusiciansgenerally.Thiscontrastingcharacterofthestandardizationofthewholeandpartprovidesarough,preliminarysettingfortheeffectuponthelistener.

[5]Theprimaryeffectofthisrelationbetweentheframeworkandthedetailisthatthelistenerbecomespronetoevincestrongerreactionstothepartthantothewhole.Hisgraspofthewholedoesnotlieinthelivingexperienceofthisoneconcretepieceofmusichehasfollowed.Thewholeispre-givenandpre-accepted,evenbeforetheactualexperienceofthemusicstarts:

therefore,itisnotlikelytoinfluence,toanygreatextent,thereactiontothedetails,excepttogivethemvaryingdegreesofemphasis.Detailswhichoccupymusicallystrategicpositionsintheframework—thebeginningofthechorusoritsreentranceafterthebridge—haveabetterchanceforrecognitionandfavorablereceptionthandetailsnotsosituated,forinstance,middlebarsofthebridge.Butthissituationalnexusneverinterfereswiththeschemeitself.Tothislimitedsituationalextentthedetaildependsuponthewhole.Butnostressiseverplaceduponthewholeasamusicalevent,nordoesthestructureofthewholeeverdependuponthedetails.

[6]Seriousmusic,forcomparativepurposes,maybethuscharacterized:

Everydetailderivesitsmusicalsensefromtheconcretetotalityofthepiecewhich,inturn,consistsoftheliferelationshipofthedetailsandneverofamereenforcementofamusicalscheme.Forexample,intheintroductionofthefirstmovementofBeethoven’sSeventhSymphonythesecondtheme（inC-major）getsitstruemeaningonlyfromthecontext.Onlythroughthewholedoesitacquireitsparticularlyricalandexpressivequality—thatis,awholebuiltupofitsve