Monday, April 15, 2013

Dionysian, Experimentation, Music

Insofar as Dionysian Art effects the smashing of Form, one Art that is intrinsically Dionysian is Experimental Art.  Now, experimentation is not exclusive to Music, but what distinguishes it from other Arts is its capacity to express experimentation.  For, experimentation consists in a digression from some given, and Music has always demonstrated that it has the resources to express Digression-from-a-Given, e. g. its Theme-Variation structure.  But, Digression is more than a contingent compositional pattern.  Rather, it is at the heart of Music--any silence digresses from a given sound, and Rhythm is essentially constituted by such Digression.  So, because of its unique capacity to express Digression, i. e. with respect to which Poetry is derivative, Music is the preeminent Dionysian Art qua Experimental Art, as Jazz, with which Nietzsche would likely have a little acquaintance, perhaps best exemplifies.

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