The Scientific Image of Music Theory
Matthew P. Brown, Douglas J. Dempster · Journal of Music Theory · 1989
If music theory is to be taken seriously, and we think it should, then it must clarify the nature of music and thereby guide our musical activities, whether they be performance, composition or historical research.' Music theory must also be a rational pursuit. By 'rational' we mean nothing arcane, merely that theory helps us illuminate, elucidate, understand or explain music. We describe these acts as rational only to contrast them with mystical and emotive acts, such as worshiping, being moved by, or becoming one with. Now, although music theory may be rational, it is not immediately obvious how it fulfills this demand. Indeed, there is remarkably little concensus among theorists about what the goals and methods of the discipline should be. Some believe that music theory ought to model itself on the sciences; they claim that it can and should aspire to the rigorous methods and precise terminologies that have made science so successful in accounting for the world around us. They insist that it is only by applying scientific paradigms to well-defined phenomena, that music theory can be truly explanatory. Others, however, support a quite different view; though unwilling to deny rational methods altogether, they are reluctant to conspire with the physicist and the biologist. Instead, they maintain that while scientific