# "Origin of Music"



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

<< When Orpheus caressed the strings of the lyre, the oak trees in the woods of Thrace danced by virtue of his melodies.

When Orpheus embarked with the Argonauts, the rocks heard his music, _a language where all languages meet_, and their vessel was saved from shipwreck.

When the sun rose, Orpheus' lyre greeted it from the peak of Mount Pangaeum and the two chatted as equals, light to light, because his music also set the air on fire.

Zeus sent a bolt of lightning to punish the author of such audacities. >>

Eduardo Galeano, in *Mirrors*, translation by Mark Fried.

The italics within the quotation are mine.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Poetry and allegory aside, there are certainly some curious analogies between language and music.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

science said:


> Poetry and allegory aside, there are certainly some curious analogies between language and music.


I agree. Starting with the datum that both are products of the human brain, some analogies are probably inevitable. But there are some _perceived analogies_ that can't be demonstrated to exist - like the perception that specific information can be transmitted by non-vocal music. That confusion could be caused by the association factor; hearing the music to one's national anthem can evoke the lyrics in one's head. Hmm... If one knows the 'story' associated with Beethoven's 3rd symphony, hearing the music brings up the story. Maybe a working hypothesis would be that non-vocal music can't transmit specific _new_ data?


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I agree. Starting with the datum that both are products of the human brain, some analogies are probably inevitable. But there are some _perceived analogies_ that can't be demonstrated to exist - like the perception that specific information can be transmitted by non-vocal music. That confusion could be caused by the association factor; hearing the music to one's national anthem can evoke the lyrics in one's head. Hmm... If one knows the 'story' associated with Beethoven's 3rd symphony, hearing the music brings up the story. Maybe a working hypothesis would be that non-vocal music can't transmit specific _new_ data?


what makes you believe that music evoking past memories is extrapolatable to music carrying information?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Philip said:


> what makes you believe that music evoking past memories is extrapolatable to music carrying information?


I don't believe that. Clearly language has its own deficiencies.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Maybe a working hypothesis would be that non-vocal music *can't* transmit specific _new_ data?


Sorry I misread. Carry on.


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