Fwd: Does music technically qualify as a language?

[Scott F. Kiesling]

Colleagues:

I received this query and thought some of you musically minded folks
might be able to help (or any of you really). Please reply to Mr.
Rudolph and not to me. Of course, discussion on the list might be
interesting too.

SFK

----- Forwarded message from "Glenn L. Rudolph" <glrudolph at verizon.net> -----

> From: "Glenn L. Rudolph" <glrudolph at verizon.net>
> Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 12:40:04 -0400
> To: "Kiesling, Scott F" <kiesling at pitt.edu>
> Subject: Does music technically qualify as a language?

> Good Afternoon Dr. Kiesling,

> Please bear with me for a bit - I write you as a composer seeking advice and information from a linguist. I hope you don't mind my contacting you - I pulled your email address from the PITT Linguistics Department website.

> I very recently (last week) received my Masters Degree in Music Composition from Duquesne. Other than composition, a major interest of mine is music's ability to communicate meaning and emotion. Essentially, the question I'm exploring is (speaking of classical, or art music) "why is it that when I hear contemporary (20th/21st) century compositions for instance, some pieces I 'get' and others I do not?" A very different question from whether I like the work or not. I might understand a piece musically, but not particularly like it, while others I simply don't understand. My intent here is to formulate a theory that answers the question and submit it to one of the various music theory journals.

> My gut feeling is that I simply don't understand the composer's musical language - the musical vocabulary, syntax, and grammar that the composer employs - which presupposes that music is a language of some sort. Volumes have been written about music and meaning and music as a language which I have been reading for the past year or so. Some of the arguments presented against music qualifying as a true language is it's lack of key features that languages possess, such as the ability to indicate past tense or possessive case. My initial, uneducated reaction to these arguments was that I wasn't sure all languages have the ability to indicate past tense or possessive case.

> So my questions for you are:

>  *
> linguistically, is there a list of qualities or mechanics that a system must possess, at a minimum, in order to qualify as  language
>  *
> knowing what you now do about my area of interest, can you recommend resources that would be helpful in giving me a basic understanding of the branch of linguistics appropriate to this endeavor?
>  *
> is there presently a graduate student in your program who might be interested in collaborating on and co-authoring this project?

> Thanks so much for your time and attention,

> Glenn L. Rudolph
> 298 Cottingham Place
> Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
> Phone: 724.453.0683
> Email: glenn at reindeermusic.com
> Website: www.reindeermusic.com

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Scott F. Kiesling, PhD

Associate Professor 
Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh, 2816 CL
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
http://www.linguistics.pitt.edu
Office: +1 412-624-5916