ABSTRACT
Music is distinguished between two aspects of understanding: the aesthetic and the cognitive. Aesthetic understanding is–for the purposes of this initial description–the purely sensory non-conceptual understanding of music as it strikes the senses. And cognitive understanding is–in a similarly provisional description–the reflective behaviour which transforms music from its initial non-conceptual state into a language, that is to say into a form of conceptual cognitive understanding. For those with an academic inclination, the cognitive mode of understanding provides the opportunity to move on to the question of what music means and to enquire into its social, compositional or historical contexts. Understanding Music–employs the word understanding in a way which posits a positive and unified relationship between music and listener: understanding music means that the music affects the listener, is accepted by him, finds a way into his feelings, entertains and moves him. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
