| Description |
viii, 330 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
Polyphony - the interweaving of simultaneous sounds - is a crucial aspect of music that has deep implications for how we understand the mind. Peter Pesic examines the history and significance of "polyphonicity" - of "many-voicedness" - in human experience. He presents the emergence of Western polyphony, its flowering, its horizons, and the perspective it offers on our own polyphonic brains. When we listen to polyphonic music, how is it that we can hear several different things at once? How does a single mind experience those things as a unity (a motet, a fugue) rather than an incoherent jumble? Pesic argues that polyphony raises fundamental issues for philosophy, theology, literature, psychology, and neuroscience - all searching for the apparent unity of consciousness in the midst of multiple simultaneous experiences. After tracing the development of polyphony in Western music from ninth-century church music through the experimental compositions of Glenn Gould and John Cage, Pesic considers the analogous activity within the brain, the polyphonic "music of the hemispheres" that shapes brain states from sleep to awakening. He discusses how neuroscientists draw on concepts from polyphony to describe the "neural orchestra" of the brain. Pesic's story begins with ancient conceptions of God's mind and ends with the polyphonic personhood of the human brain and body. An enhanced e-book edition allows the sound examples to be played by a touch. |
| Contents |
[Part] I : Polyphony emergent -- Global contexts and ancient origins -- Dispassion and deification -- The music of the blessed -- Oresme and the "New song" -- Polyphonic controversies -- [Part] II : Polyphony triumphant -- E pluribus unum -- Polyphony and power -- Controlling dissonance -- Contrapuntal science and art -- In Bach's hands -- [Part] III : Polyphonic horizons -- Polyphony extended -- Contrapuntal radio and polyphonic fields -- [Part] IV : Polyphonic brains -- Polyphonic selves -- Tuning the brain -- Music of the hemispheres. |
| Subject |
Counterpoint -- Psychological aspects -- History.
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Counterpoint. |
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Psychological aspects. |
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History. |
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Counterpoint -- History.
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Music -- Philosophy and aesthetics -- History.
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Music -- Philosophy and aesthetics. |
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Music -- Psychological aspects.
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Music -- Psychological aspects. |
| Genre/Form |
History.
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| ISBN |
9780262036917 hardcover ; alkaline paper |
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0262036916 hardcover ; alkaline paper |
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