introduction

What does it mean for music to have vitality? What is the significance of its alleged “loss?” Is it possible to analyze and quantify that mysterious ingredient which defies the normalization of theory and yet persists in the casual discourse of musical culture? At first, any investigation into such an obviously overblown and conspicuously subjective topic would seem Quixotic, if not ill-advised. In fact, the subject of vitality is problematic both from a formalist view as well as a social-critical view: for the former, such soft and anecdotal hearsay is not much help in the task of identifying patterns in sets, structures and techniques, and for the latter, the idea that music should even have the capacity to contain or lose a “vital essence” would make it dangerously immutable to skeptical criticism. And yet, it is precisely in this space that I wish to present the problematic yet stubbornly ubiquitous concept of vitality.

The idea that there is, could be or should be vitality in music is not something of my own invention. Rather, it has been a nagging topic throughout documented musical history. This study does not begin with a wishful, laden assumption that vitality either does or does not exist in the music, nor is so simple a conclusion likely to be reached. The germ of this investigation is the very real discussion among composers, performers and audience members over many years where verifiable tension has existed. Hot spots for such remarks are especially prevalent in times of stylistic transition, the self-conscious maintainance of performance practice of historical literature and the inter-generational process of music education.

Outline for discussion of Vitality

Vitality in music has been a contentious issue in areas of composition, performance practice and musicology for more than a century. Evidence of the importance of the issue can be seen in comments made by composers, performers and musicologists throughout the years.

An investigation into what this Vitality is and how it works is important for the following reasons:

1.) It reflects a perceived loss of continuity in a tradition that claims the legacy of the past.

2.) Because of reasons discussed in the second section of this paper, the perception of relative levels of vitality among musics of varying traditions creates an ethical problem.

3.) Besides the perceived loss of vitality, there are ways of describing it objectively, and the creation of various educational methods to reinforce certain practices is testament to a pragmatic approach to improve "lost" or unsatisfactory vitality in music.

Vitality can be studied through several solutions used by composers and performers in re-vitalizing music. These solutions include:

1.) Vitalizing by injection: Material of another tradition is appropriated as it is perceived to be more vital, and reinvigorates the new work.

2.) Supplanting tradition: Historic forms, perceived to be unsustainable in modern context, are abandoned and supplanted with borrowed, exotic forms where greater potential for vitality is assumed to be possible.

3.) Vitalizing by resuscitation: As decades and centuries place contemporary performers further and further from the origin of music preserved in manuscripts, techniques are devised to interpret music through informed guesswork toward the composer's intent. Thus, a work is "brought to life" through the efforts of the scholar-performer. Teachers in today's musical world vary in their approaches, as some prefer to rear young students in a "passed down" tradition while others seek to imbue in students the ability to apply principles of performance pratice as tools in resuscitating older works. Similar techniques are also used in the performance practice of newly composed music, where the composer is often unwilling or unable to communicate his intentions beyond the notated score and a few suggestions.

4.) Removing blockages: Modern music education methods use exercises to increase fluidity in music performance, often by means of associating musical ideas with physical movement of the body through time and against gravity.


Defining what exactly vitality is in music is not quite possible. That is because music is itself a thing that can exist only in the space of the performer and listener and in its means of transmission. However, the discussion of music having or lacking vitality persists, and ranges from highly subjective tastes to very objective, knowable points. Assessing what is "going on" in music that would grant it properties of vitality can be analyzed according to it's affect or appeal.

Music appeals to people in the following ways:

1.) Appeal to intellect

2.) Appeal to emotion

3.) Appeal to visceral sympathy ("can you dance to it?")

Additionally, we must look at the basic ways in which music exists in the service of human activity. Some of this is guesswork, but there are some ways in which scientists believe music may have emerged in our evolutionary history (see Levitan). These include:

1.) Group bonding

2.) Sexual selection

The success or failure of music in appealing to humans in the above ways and fulfilling these functional roles should be some indication of its vitality.

Thus, a basic outline of a paper on vitality should include the following:

I. A case for the study of Vitality (why it's important)

II. An assessment of means to achieving vitality, particularly when it is considered to be deficient

III. A working definition of what vitality is

IV. A proposal for how this knowledge is useful in:
a.) Improving performance practice of historic literature
b.) Improving communication between composers, performers and audiences
c.) Improving the ethical nature of transmission of material between cultures in transnational encounters