Music as Ruled by Primary Processes: Condensation

Abstract

Of all the arts, music is the closest to primary processes and the archaic modes of mental functioning. Consequently, condensation as one of the basic primary process mechanisms plays an important role in music. It manifests as the condensation of different musical entities (themes, scales etc.), of different principles of organization, and also as an underlying logic of those analytic strategies that postulate the existence of structural layers, where events at deeper levels condense several more superficial events (e. g. Schenkerian analysis).