Pixelated Semantics

Comparing Semantic Context in Language and Music

There is a highly useful and interesting article in Nature, claiming that musical notes are composed in the same patterns as words in a piece of literature. It is argued that as a text progresses, it creates a meaningful context within which words are likely to reappear if they have already been used. Physicist Damian Zanette of the Balseiro Institute in Argentina uses this idea to assess whether different types of music create a semantic context in a similar fashion. He also finds atonal composition has less structure and less context, implying that the reason many people find it unsatisfying to listen to atonal music is because the meaning or context of the piece is constantly changing - an arguable point in terms of contemporary practise, perhaps more in accord with the compositions of Bartok or Schoenberg.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 2:52 pm ::