Objectivism

On the extreme, music has no outward emotionality or temperament to it. It sounds therefore like not having any meaning apart from musical logic; being nothing apart from being just an abstract play of sounds. This is commonly in musical literature referred to as “absolute music”. “Absolute music” is held as the opposite of program music – music which has a concrete meaning, has some non-musical content tied for it.

Yet this therm is somewhat ambiguous and a void concept, since not having program is not quite the same as having this very abstract, general character. Much better word is objectivistic music. Objectivism doesn't mean only absence of non-musical associations and evocations, but also freedom from anything particular. This means music lacks even a certain known style. Objectivistic character refers to pure sensibility of the piece without anything concrete. A piece can lack emotional or atmospheric charge, but can be very natural and logical and burn itself into our memory. An example is a well known Oxygene 4 of Jean Michel Jarre, which impresses with it stylistic and emotional voidness, but coupled with instant recognizability and great “hook”. But how can this go together? Well, that is the very heart of passion of objectivism. Objectivism on the end is not cold, but full of passion; it is an ideal. Ideal of objectivism is to say nothing concrete yet to be instantly memorable. The core of the excitement in objectivism is, how can something colorless, one general place, still be so unforgettable?

Objectivistic sounding pieces are by rule quite minimalistic, generally less complex in the sense of number of details, since the level of abstraction is high and so density of relations also, so those few used elements are enough.

Also, maybe seeming paradoxically, objectivistic spirit has much to do with vast popularity. Being without any special spin, means being universal and so touching everyone. Objectivistic spirit is born from this wish to be everything; to sublime everything, to touch everyone, without bothering anybody. Seemingly impossible task, since if it doesn't offend anyone it is likely to leave everyone cold-hearted. But top artists are up to the job: instead pale pieces, thanks to high level of abstraction and successful sublimation of different influences, they create unforgettable, although neutral pieces. By avoiding any particular style and subjectivities in taste, composers are talking to what is the same in everyone. Objectivistic character of the piece makes it easily approachable to everyone, since a listener doesn't have to adapt oneself to it – music is adapted to every listener by insisting on what is common to everyone.

And what is most common among people is logic. Objectivism is connected with pure logic, because when a piece doesn't have a particular style or meaning, the only thing it can have is pure musical logic; it naturally follows the laws of the mind, without a particular emotional or stylistic effect. Objectivism is barren logic expressed through sound.

Since objectivistic music is about creating abstract, general pieces, it lacks all intimacy; there is a big distance between “a human being that suffers and a creator who creates”. All this are characteristics of a symphony; even the smallest objectivistic piece thus have in itself something of a symphony.

Objectivism is also connected with a certain utilitarian spirit, since objectivistic character makes musical piece depersonalized and easily applicable in many contexts; so objectivistic spirit of Johan Sebastian Bach today rings from cell phones, and Mozart from elevators. This same virtue of inclusiveness gives to objectivistic music certain political power.