In Defense of the Work of Art: I and Thou in Music Education

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A change has been going on in both the philosophy of music education and the general philosophy of music during the last decades: a transition from a focus on music as an object or work to a focus on music as an activity and process. This certainly contrasts with the historical hegemony of the (Western) idea of music as objects. As a philosophical development this is unproblematic. However, a fundamental prerequisite for moving encounters between the human subject and music, in music education as well as in general, is the very idea of music as a work of art. This does not mean that music is to be considered solely as an object. The musical work of art is to be considered as both a subject and an object: a part-person-part-thing. In this chapter such ideas are discussed related to writings by Bohlman, Elliott and Small, romanticism, Benjamin’s aura concept, Buber’s encounter concept, and Aristotle’s discussion of happiness.