ABSTRACT
Music has usually been considered principally as a supportive tool with immediate use for collectivistic and social purposes. For example, music, as the other arts, has often been connected with religious and even more with primitive magical practices. Many religions have elaborated systems of indoctrination, for which special forms of music or the prohibition of certain instruments are used. Under certain political conditions, the entire educational system is brought under government control. Very few cultures, and almost exclusively within the confines of the Western world, have appreciated music for its inherent aesthetic value. These cultures accepted the idea that music can be free from extra-musical aims, and highly appreciated music as a value in itself precisely because it does not have any other connotation.
