"While critics in general note the frequent direct references to music in her works, most of them focus on the way music functions as a "minor symbol" and as an "extended correlative" or mirror of theme and character. Few critics, however, have examined music's role as "architectural framework.""
~ Janice Fuller in "The Conventions of Counterpoint and Fugue in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"
Music is generally thought of as being composed mainly of lyrics and techno beats, but there is much more to musical conventions than what is commonly heard in popular music. Rather, as we have seen in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, musical conventions can be used to send a message, to convey the tone and meaning of a work. In fact, these aspects of music can be as important, or even more important than the words themselves.
As we have seen, though each character in the novel is dealing with loneliness and the "insurmountable isolation of human beings," this theme really comes together with the musical structure of the novel in which each character's voice is intermingled with the rest, echoing the same sentiments and ideals. Their individual problems and concerns are alternately amplified and deafened by those around them.
To what extend do lyrics, that is the words associated with the music (in this case the text of the novel), play a role, and are the conventions behind them more important?
Taylor, I have a few questions about this post...
ReplyDeleteFirst what are you talking about: Music is generally thought of as being composed mainly of lyrics and techno beats, but there is much more to musical conventions than what is commonly heard in popular music.
--Who is it who thinks of music this way? We as a class? The characters in the novel? Kids today? Fuller?
Second: how do you propose to answer this question about lyrics and music? It is an interesting one, but one that I'm not sure directly relates to your article... very little of the music alluded to involves lyrics. Are you proposing that the novel is itself lyrics to a piece of music? Are you asking what it means for a text to be "lyrical" (if so look at both connotations and denotations of this word)?
Well generally, when music is discussed as part of an English class, the focus is on the words of the song, the lyrics. I guess what I am getting is that while the lyrics are important, there is more to music than just that, which the article points out.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I mention lyrics is because I felt that if we are referring to the novel as having a musical arrangement, the words and action itself would then be basically the lyrics, while the structure and form would be the musical conventions.
So by that reasoning, I am "proposing that the novel is itself lyrics to a piece of music" and that as such, what is the interplay between those lyrics and the underlying conventions, in how they reinforce or detract from one another, and in how they refer back to the underlying themes and messages of the novel.
Taylor, I think that the article you have mentions a theory that THiaLH is actually an interpretation of "Eroica"... you might find that an interesting theory to research/investigate in light of your lyrics idea...
ReplyDeleteEroica?
ReplyDeleteRead Eric's post
ReplyDeleteAha. I'm fairly confident that was not in the article, but rather from Eric knowing music and having read more of the book than I.
ReplyDeleteIt seems almost as if the basis of that idea is the whole form vs. content relationship we have been talking about all year; how the two interact and whether or not one of the two plays a dominant role in contributing to the meaning of the story.
Yes, definitely, I agree. Your last comment, Taylor, has me thinking about form and content crossing genres. I have to think more about this.
ReplyDeleteThere is a mention somewhere, though perhaps not in the article I gave you, to Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (it's in the text, but I also read about it somewhere... I read 10 articles trying to pick out the 3 to use so I may be conflating a few)
Eroica=3rd symphony
ReplyDeleteThanks. You+Eric+Wikipedia= I get what you were talking about.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am a ghost haunting this post, George's post, and Eric's post.
ReplyDeleteNo amount of fire or freshness can challenge what Taylor will store up in this blog's comments
ReplyDeleteCan "lyrics" to classical music (like those mentioned in the book and our various articles) be in fact simply the words that are brought to mind when one hears a particular piece of music? While not the dictionary definition of lyrics, it is still "the words associated with the music" and might be what McCullers aims to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteIf that is so, I actually see a close correlation between McCuller's novel and Beethoven's Eroica (which I'm actually listening to right now - Google makes life so much easier). The feelings that are evoked most often in this piece of music seem to be alternating feelings of carefree, immaturity followed by pressure, anger, and tension.
This, interestingly, follows each of our characters' stories. Mick is always the burdened, yet yearning to have fun kid. Singer is the guy who sometimes feels the pressure to talk and other times becomes the wall to which others to talk to. Biff is the carefree business owner who seems unwilling to stumble upon any big trouble. Portia is burdened by her family troubles, yet set free by her devotion to her job.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that there is definite interplay of lyrics and theme, I'm just not sure what purpose this serves...