Music And The Relationship Between Humanism And Music

Arguably the greatest and longest impacting movement brought about by the forward thinkers of the Renaissance was humanism. Humanism was a cultural and intellectual movement that emphasized the human potential to attain excellence through direct study of the literature, art, and civilization of the classical Greek and Roman societies (Merriam-Webster). The scholars and believers in humanism sought to change the course of society away from the narrow pedantry of medieval scholasticism and utilitarianism. Humanism was a basic desire for every citizen to be able to speak with eloquence and read and write with clarity, so that common citizens were capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities (Gray). The movement also emphasized the value of a human being as well as the importance of rational thought rather than blind faith in spiritualism or superstition. It also pushed people to explore human desires and pleasures while also enriching their minds. The influential nature of humanism was far reaching and most notable for its effects on Renaissance art, literature, and philosophy.

First, humanism is visible in many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance time period, one example of this is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is a very simple painting as far as what is shown, it is a woman seated in a chair and her upper torso and up is shown and she is sitting in front of a very scenic background with mountains, trees, water, and the sky. She is also dressed in very plain clothing, a brown dress. The Mona Lisa shows humanism in the fact that the painting has nothing to do or

It focuses on human beings, their values, abilities, and individual worth, and human society as something valuable that could be improved. Renaissance humanism challenged the worldview of the Middle Ages. Humanism led to new attitudes towards art, philosophy, and government. P.336 - P.344 (Document D)

Without the human intention, perception, and interpretation of sound, then the existence of music would be imaginary. Music includes talking words in a way that the person creates a sound that is made with the intention of being music (Deutsch, Diana 10-13, Justus & Timothy., 33-40). Besides, people can perceive silence and sound and put them together so as to call the outcome music. In Bakan’s fourth proposition, he identifies the approach as the Human Intention and Perception (HIP) approach (Resnicow, Joel E., 10-22). In other words, the proposition tries to suggest that music is inseparable from the makers; or more specifically the people who perceive and experience it. Bakan gives numerous examples to show that music is a product of human intention and perception. This paper conducts research and gives appropriate examples to show that music is only identified as music if the person is making it has the intention for their words to be music.

Humanism is derived from the movement that happened from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The start point of Humanism is in Italy. It is an important development during the Renaissance. Because of the terrible Black Death in 14th century. The population of Europeans decreased extremely. A lot of people died of the Black Death. At the beginning of that time, people thought the Black Death is God’s punishment for living life in sin. People went to Church and hope the forgiveness of God. However, the wide spread of the Black Death didn’t stop. The dead body forced the people started finding the other new way. Instead of believing in God, people started to think about science. The scientists did the research and treated the Black Death by more scientific way. People started thinking about the man himself and explored natural environment by more scientific method. The new ways of thinking influenced the development of Humanism in art during the Renaissance. The Renaissance artworks are about the re-discovery of ancient Greek and Roman artworks and their way of life. Humanists rejected the religion concept and not believe in the supernaturalism. They tried to discover the natural creatures and destiny of man. Artists learned the human beauty from the ancient Greek and Roman artworks and architectures. They began to find out more ideas about the human experience, personal independence and social community. They brought the Humanism ideas into their artworks.

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary gives several definitions for humanism, a word which made its appearance in 1832. The first is "a devotion to the humanities or the revival of class, individualistic and critical spirit, and emphasis on secular concerns characteristic of the Renaissance." Renaissance is capitalized. Another definition reads as follows: "a doctrine, attitude, or

Humanism is a way of life that revolves around the interests of people. It stresses human worth and building up self-realization. Humanism was developed in Greece and Rome, and is generally due to philosophy and current literary works during 1400-1650. It is termed "Classical Humanism" because it was born during that time period. Classical Humanism had an impact during the Renaissance Era.

Scholars and artists commonly describe music as a reflection of the human condition. The period in history from the mid-1930s onward marked a tragic phase in twentieth century music and this reflection: the total politicizing of the art by totalitarianism means. Dictators, including Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, were manipulating popular culture to take control of their people. Stalin supported the idea of a “Soviet modernism,” a school of art that would embody the power of the new proletarian state. He monitored every recording made in the country, writing judgments of “good,” “so-so,” and “bad” on their sleeves. Stalin believed music to be the engineer of the human souls, and hoped to use this as a way to influence his people that Soviet life was improving. Fearing a phone call from the dictator or being arrested in the night, Soviet composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich wrote music with chained hands in an effort to please their leader. A study of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7 will reveal the influence of communism in the Soviet Union on his music as well as his dynamic relationship with Joseph Stalin.

Humanism is surrounded by humans, that humans are the most high and most developed on the universe. Basically Humanism is based off political, ethical, and economical matter and values but disregards the basic questions (Sheldon 1). Humanism has been associated with the Renaissance, which was an artistic movement that started around the 1400’s and lasting for two years. “The idea of the ‘modern’ period in human history as distinct from the ‘ ancient’ and ‘middle’ or ‘ dark age’ originated with humanist during the Renaissance” (“Renaissance Humanism”1). There was an effect on renaissance ideas, “an effect of Renaissance ideas on perception of history was the replacing of a providential view of time with an ancient cyclical and Arabic astrological perspective” (Sheldon 1). Finally the Renaissance spread across the map to Alps, Germany. The Renaissance turned into a strong moral and a forceful education. The Germans cared more about what’s within than the outlooks of life or things (Biesinger 3). Renaissance came along way. “The founder of Renaissance humanism was Petrarch (1304-1374)” (“Humanism” 1). Petrarch’s birth name is Francesco Petrarca and he was

Humanism is a philosophy created by the ancient Athenians of Ancient Greece. This philosophy was based upon the idea that humans are the center of everything, are able to rely on their own abilities to meet challenges, and understand and make sense of the universe and forces. The Athenian humanist philosophy demonstrated a somewhat new belief system and cultural tradition. The Athenians also presented new ideas in art, science, philosophy, and politics. However, the humanist philosophies is not entirely new to the world and has already been displayed in other ancient civilizations.

The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that humans have the freedom to choose what they do regardless of environmental factors, and humans are mostly conscious beings and are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. Two of the humanistic theorists that have made an impact of humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

Humanism was the study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature. It was the focus on themselves, rather than the focus on religion. Unlike those

4, pp. 69 ff.), "Humanism recognizes the value and dignity of man and makes him the measure of all things or somehow takes human nature, its limits, or its interests as its theme."

Singing - producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm.

Encarta Dictionary says that Humanism is a system of thought that centers on human beings and their values, capacities and worth. Encarta also goes on the say that, in philosophy, humanism is an attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of an individual. A basic premise of humanism is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and goodness. I see myself as a being a humanist through everyday life. I always try to see the good in a person when he/she makes me angry or sad, and say I to myself that maybe that person has had a bad day and living life is difficult at the moment. Socrates was even an early humanist of sorts. He can be quoted as saying, "to know the good is to do the