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'Naturally, since I am not concerned with normative allegations, I cannot be concerned here with the invocation of the overtone series as a 'natural' phenomenon, and that application of equivocation which then would label as 'un-natural' (in the sense, it would appear, of morally perverse) music which is not 'founded' on it. Now, what music, in what sense, ever had been founded on it?'

Milton Babbitt#4

MusicEthicsNatureTheory

About this quote

What does it mean?
Music cannot be called natural or moral based solely on physical series.
In plain terms
Music rules are not based on nature.
What can you take from it?
Do not mix natural facts with moral claims about art.

Where it applies

  • music education
  • criticism
  • philosophy

Putting it to work

  • analyze music objectively
  • separate fact from value

Questions to consider

  • Is music natural?
  • Can art be moral?

Another view

This ignores the potential value of natural principles.

More from Milton Babbitt

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