Music & Arts

“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”

Modest Mussorgsky

As philosopher Richard Wollheim says, art is “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture.” In its simplest manifestation, art is a form of communication that serves as a vehicle for the expression of emotions and ideas. As ideas and beliefs are culturally specific and constantly changing over time, there really is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art. That being said, the classical branches of the visual arts are identified as painting, sculpture and architecture. Literature and poetry are considered part of the humanities or as one of the arts, while music, alongside theatre, film and dance belong to the performing arts. In this section you will discover not only specific explorations of individual art forms, but also a more detailed probing of the relationship between the visual arts and music, including painting and music, sculpture and music and architecture and music. Originally, poetry and music were treated as a unity, but gradually they have become more independent. Nevertheless, the two art forms have never forgotten their shared genetic makeup, and been intertwined for millennia. Art and music have engaged in a dynamic relationship that reveals a diverse range of human activity intended to be appreciated for their beauty.

433 Posts
  • Composers and Their Poets: Schubert IV Composers and Their Poets: Schubert IV
    We’ve looked at Schubert’s song cycles, but that was only a small part of the enormous number of lieder he wrote. There were many other poets he set than just the majors we are so familiar with (Goethe, Schiller, and
  • An Artist at the Opera: Marc Chagall An Artist at the Opera: Marc Chagall
    When we think of Marc Chagall and opera, we think first of the wonderful murals he created for the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Paris Opera. Born in Russia in 1887, Chagall was largely self-taught due to the
  • Composers and Their Poets: Schubert III Composers and Their Poets: Schubert III
    We mentioned the collection Schwanengesang in our last Schubert article. The collection was put together posthumously by Schubert’s publisher without regard to Schubert’s usual practice or Schubert’s probable wishes. Schubert never mixed his poets and also had a firm regard
  • Composers and their Poets: Schubert II Composers and their Poets: Schubert II
    After the simple joys and fatal ending of Die schöne Müllerin, the feeling of Winterreise comes as an interesting change. This time, Schubert set all 24 of the verses written by Wilhelm Müller. The cycle was first published in 1823
  • The Bauhaus: Architecture, Art and Music II The Bauhaus: Architecture, Art and Music II
    In my September Interlude article I focused on the close relationship between Bauhaus architecture, art and music. It is interesting to note, however, that the Bauhaus’ own teaching program consisted of studies in architecture, art and various crafts, whereas music
  • Composers and their Poets: Schubert I Composers and their Poets: Schubert I
    A Look at Schubert Vocal Works When we look at Franz Schubert’s song output, it is a truly amazing number. In just a few years, 11 to be exact, Schubert (1797-1828) wrote over 600 songs. The poets he set varied
  • An Artist at the Opera: Ivan Bilibin An Artist at the Opera: Ivan Bilibin
    The Russian illustrator Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin took his love for Russian folklore into his designs for the stage, creating clear, finely edged sets. His first illustrations were commissioned by the Russian government for a series of Russian folk story books.
  • Poetry in Music: Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque Poetry in Music: Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque
    The Essential Debussy’s Piano Music As a composer in the late 19th century, Claude Debussy (1862-1918) worked on the cusp of the new directions taking place around him in France: salon music mixed with the new art styles of impressionism