Bernard Sève. Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1951. He teaches philosophy of art and aesthetics at the university of Lille. His interest in music has led him to study the musical instrument as a material that is philosophical in an essay bright that publishes the editorial Cliff.
how playing an instrument?Some, and all evil, why lie. Piano, organ, bassoon, flute sweet…What led him to study the musical instruments from the philosophy?All the arts work with what they find in nature, but music is the only art that produces its own material, these machines that produce sound.How the human voice is an instrument?It is essential for the music, of course. But the instrument has something specific: it is a technical object manufactured in a material way, from beginning to end. A professional voice carries a lot of work, but it is not an instrument.And if it breaks you can’t fix it.A violin you can change a string. You can play ancient instruments, but not sing with old voices. The voice is another thing.If I use a computer program to make music, do you play an instrument?You’re creating music, there is no doubt. But the crucial question is the relationship between the body and the instrument, the power should be passed to the object and transformed into sound. It is the same thing that would make a difference to a bike of a car, even though the two serve to move.You should keep a few discussions formidable with people.I am not a sectarian, and seems to me well that a piece of software or to the voice call instrument, but intellectually I can’t.The silence, what is the most beautiful music?The silence is music and what is not, all at the same time, and their beauty is undeniable. Now, remember that the absolute silence is impossible, at least on this planet.John Cage explained that, even in an anechoic chamber, to the few seconds you hear the sound of the circulation of the blood and the nervous system in operation.They are torture chambers! If you get a quarter of an hour, nothing happens, but if you’re within an hour, it becomes unbearable. After 15 minutes, you feel a lot of distress.We agree that there is no absolute silence. But do you like the relative?I like silence prior to the concert, and also the subsequent, when you hear the last moment of the music, concentrated in a brief moment. Especially I’m interested in the silence in the music, provided by composer, because it is full of meaning.Duchamp changed art history when he established that any object could be. Do any sound, we make music? The man is an animal producer of sound, what we want, what we believe and what we seek in nature, in the birds, the water… There is an excess of sound, that produces vertigo and changes our idea of the music. But there is also a desire of the gesture: we want to play.As a philosopher, does the music for what it is?Plato proposed to expel poets from his Republic because they are liars, but the music is perceived as part of education, and submitted to the state. It is used to regulate the passions. So that is policy.Why is it important to reflect on music in our current time?It is a power that impacts the body and the heart, all the powers of the State to the Church, use music, and the music is not innocent. But also allows for a rapprochement between the different.How you can help make a better world?I am not naive, the music will not save the world. But it helps that we listen.How to play the guitar in our imaginations, that which is called ‘air guitar’, or simulate that you play the piano, what meaning does it have?It is a gesture instrumental no instrument, no sound or music. It is very interesting, because it sheds light on something very human: the desire to act, to imitate, and to spoil the gesture.
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