The Musical Embrace: Auditory Contiguity and the Unifying Function of Music-listening

Abstract: The article explores the unifying nature of music-listening. Building on the work of Loewald, Kohut, Anzieu, and Ogden, this discussion explores music in terms of a “bath of sound” that concretely envelops the immersed listener and arguably promotes their spatiotemporal sense of wholeness. Complementing the more well-known “modifying function” and the “mirroring function” of music-listening, the article introduces and articulates a “unifying function,” arguing for its fundamentality and independence vis-à-vis the two other functions. Given that all human interaction—from everyday commerce to clinical encounters—has its “musical” dimension, the argument presented here can be expected to have a broad range of applicability and prove of interest to theoreticians and clinicians alike.