Works and plays in music

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the author has been to revise the concept of the musical work and to re‐define different types of music which cannot be brought into accordance with any current meaning of ‘works’. The inquiry starts from R. Ingarden's definition of the musical work and from Z. Lissa's critical remarks on it. Musical products are divided into two main categories: ‘works’ and ‘plays’. Musical products presenting a sufficiently specific shape to distinguish them from other musical occurrences and based on a ‘composed’ musical content, displaying syntactical coherence and semantic autonomy are called ‘musical works’. ‘Musical plays’ are characterized either: (a) by a complete functional subservience to a social, ideological, theatrical or filmic context; (b) by vocal or instrumental performances, considered as completely self‐sufficient activities; (c) by lacking any internal coherence; (d) or by lacking a sufficient degree of specificity.