Ó palavra, tu palavra que me falta! – Reflexões sobre música e linguagem

Abstract

Taking as a starting point the theses of Eggebrecht (1999) that negate the language character of music, I revisit here some aspects of the debate about music and language, by seeking to expand the interdisciplinary approach to the matter. The discussion is oriented towards the refutation of these theses, which represent a certain musicological canon, and is then developed around the following topics: the verbalization processes of music and their undoing, examined in a historical perspective; the analogy between linguistic and musical ‘colloquial performances’ (such as a conversation or talk), as opposed to ‘presentational performances’ (based respectively on a written text or a musical notation); the distinction between the symbolic and the semiotic and its relevance for the discussion of music as language; a critical review of the myth of Apollo and Marsyas and its historical and anthropological repercussions down to the present day; and, finally, the specific questions raised by ‘presentational performances’ of music. In conclusion, I argue that the language character of musical practices manifests itself in an endless and unlimited semiosis, to which they give rise as social practices, making them, on the one hand, close to linguistic communication, and, on the other hand, paradigms of artistic communication.