Sonic Affinity and Aesthetic Metamorphosis: The Nineteenth Century as a Turning Point in the History of Musical Thought

The theory of sonic affinity posits that the action of soundscapes perceived since the formation of the ear in the prenatal period models the human musical brain, generating aesthetic profiles in mimetic processes integrated within evolutionary logic. Applied to the field of historical musicology, this allows the interpretation of the nineteenth century as a key stage of musical mutations following the Industrial Revolution, which shattered the stillness of the ancien régime with the commotion of steam engines, mechanical spinners, and the railroad. Technological innovations had a decisive impact on the creation, performance, and perception of music. The orchestra grew unstoppable, the piano doubled in power and possibilities compared to its predecessors, metronome and pianola became universal, and cultured compositions developed previously unthinkable features and complexity. Every formal parameter of music was affected: accents, tempo, melody, harmony, timbre, and intensity. Importantly, the human voice, which had dominated the history of music since the Middle Ages, was temporarily drowned out by the instrumental avalanche—just as at factories people could not hear each other due to the din—reflecting both a physical and metaphorical surrender before the machine. Thus, the notorious differences between, for example, the cantabile progressions by Vivaldi and Handel on the one hand and the gigantism and steadiness of Bruckner and Mahler on the other were not restricted to natural evolution and personal temperament but largely obeyed the uneven sensory-auditory environment of the respective lifetimes of these composers. The response of the audience was broadly consistent with the new musical universe, reinforcing the notion of an underlying umbilical cord between what is heard and what is preferred. In addition, the notion of absolute music as the pinnacle of all arts turned its listening into an inward experience, tightly linked to the “othering of the senses” and correlative silencing of the listener. previous article back to index next article