The sociology of music studies music as "the art of the Muses," referring not strictly to the world of sound, but to all forms of expression characterized by a certain divine transcendence. Over time, a definition has been formalized in which music is defined as the art capable of creating sequences of sounds structured according to the dimensions of melody, harmony, and rhythm.

As a cultural phenomenon with global reach, scholars from a wide range of fields, from physics and acoustics to philosophy and musical aesthetics, have sought to explore sound art in all its aspects. Anthropologists and sociologists, in particular, have questioned the crucial relationship between society and music , ultimately formalizing a discipline called "sociology of music."

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Is the sociology of music the sociology of art?

The sociology of music is a specific field of sociological studies on art . This discipline was formed in the early decades of the twentieth century by Weber and Schutz, who were not strictly interested in a definition of music, but rather focused on issues related to its distribution and enjoyment.

concert sociology of music
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Identifying those sound forms that crystallize into a concrete social impact is, in fact, among the primary goals of every sociologist of music. Simmel, in this regard, emphasized the sociality inherent in the experience of listening, identifying melody as the musical parameter that expresses the character of a social group, harmony as an indicator of a society's degree of complexity, and the evolution of rhythm as one of the elements of contemporary depersonalization.

Max Weber's Sociology of Music

"The Rational and Sociological Foundations of Music" is Max Weber's main essay on his sociological theory of music. Published posthumously in 1921, this text primarily raises questions about the true meaning of art, and music in particular.

The German sociologist's main question is whether art is the expression of the individual artist or the product of the social , cultural, and economic evolution of the time. In other words, Weber also asks whether music follows a purely natural or artificial path.

These questions are posed within a broader reflection pursued throughout nearly all of Weber's writings. The underlying idea that emerges is to view modern society as the outcome of a process of technical rationalization of reality, of which music is a clear example.

The motivations that prompted the German sociologist to advance these hypotheses stemmed precisely from a direct comparison of non-European and European musical cultures. Indeed, globally, the concepts of tonal harmony and polyphony exist in all cultures, but only in European culture does a tonal system and a specific use of polyphony emerge.

This nature becomes artificial when musical parameters become functional only to the historical period. By declaring this, Weber also implicitly answers his main question: European music is an anthropogenic creation based on the development of society. Harmony, rhythm, and melody are not natural products of acoustic phenomena, but are true cultural prerogatives.

Alfred Schutz's Phenomenology of Music

Austrian philosopher Alfred Schutz can be considered the founder of phenomenological sociology, that is, the sociology based on the theories of Edmund Husserl. The phenomenological school of philosophy investigates the relationship between the activity of consciousness and the phenomena surrounding it, applying the "suspension of judgment" of reality (epochè).

Schutz's interest, similarly, concerned the social relations connected to music , the latter understood precisely as a social activity. To achieve this goal, the questions he asks concern both the true meaning of music and its production and reception.

According to Schutz, every performance is first and foremost preceded by a socially derived pre-understanding, which is the means through which the author of a piece adapts his own performance to so-called general ideal “types,” which are posed as a priori forms of knowledge.

Alfred Shutz

Highlighting the temporal nature of music, influenced by Bergsonian duration, the Austrian philosopher argues that every performance allows the performer to imagine the composer's internal flow of consciousness. In this context, the true meaning of music lies in the force synchronizing the listeners' internal temporal durations with those of the performers.

This ability would allow music to establish a situation of pre-communicative sharing, establishing an intersubjective relationship between the player and the listener.

Theodor W. Adorno, the philosophy of modern music

Theodor W. Adorno, before becoming a celebrated philosopher and sociologist, was first and foremost a pianist, a student of, among others, Alban Berg, a leading figure on the early twentieth-century music scene. In addition to his "Introduction to the Sociology of Music," the Frankfurt-born author wrote several monographs on composers such as Wagner and Mahler, demonstrating his profound knowledge of this expressive art.

Starting from a position that sees all culture as subjected to the dynamics of production and consumption, Adorno, to demonstrate the relationship between musical phenomena and social structures , focuses above all on the behaviour of listeners, classifying them on the basis of the passivity with which they perceive this art.

There is a huge gap between "experts" and "music consumers," highlighting the transformation of the very status of music, but also of all art, expressive and otherwise. Modern society has transformed, through the manipulation of the dominant ideology, even the systems of musical production, and for Adorno, "true music"—that is, that of Schoenberg and Stravinsky—is increasingly lost.

In "Philosophy of Modern Music," Adorno, a skilled critic of musical aesthetics, contrasts the figure of progressive music, namely Schoenberg, with the neoclassicist Stravinsky. The melodies created by these composers represent the dreams and fears of that era, revealing the crisis of the individual oppressed by the domination of the division of labor , in which music no longer finds space, except as a pastime.

These considerations have formed the basis of musical sociology, effectively systematizing the vast array of relationships that exist between music and society.

Dario Caso

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