In many cultures, music and dance go naturally together. Music moves the body, and so bodies move to the music.
Not ours, or at least not in “high culture.” Patrick Shove writes, “Many twentieth-century composers focus on sound qualities or abstract tonal patterns, and performers of their compositions often neglect whatever kinematic potential the music may have. The absence of natural motion information may be a significant factor limiting the appreciation of such music by audiences. While compositional techniques and sound materials are subject to continuous change and exploration . . . . the laws of biological motion can only be accepted, negated, or violated. If more new music and its performers took these laws into account, the size of audiences might increase correspondingly.”
Increase, maybe, to the size of rock concerts.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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