Rousseau among the Moderns : music, aesthetics, politics

Renowned for his influence as a political philosopher, a writer, and an autobiographer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau is known also for his lifelong interest in music. He composed operas and other musical pieces, invented a system of numbered musical notation, engaged in public debates about music, and wrote at length about musical theory. Critical analysis of Rousseau's work in music has been principally the domain of musicologists, rarely involving the work of scholars of political theory or literary studies. In Rousseau Among the Moderns , Julia Simon puts forth fresh interpretations of The Social Contract , the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality , and the Confessions , as well as other texts. She links Rousseau's understanding of key concepts in music, such as tuning, harmony, melody, and form, to the crucial problem of the individual's relationship to the social order. The choice of music as the privileged aesthetic object enables Rousseau to gain insight into the role of the aesthetic realm in relation to the social and political body in ways often associated with later thinkers. Simon argues that much of Rousseau's "modernism" resides in the unique role that he assigns to music in forging communal relations. COVER Front 1 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 A Note on the Text 12 Introduction 14 Notes to Introduction 200 Chapter 1: Performance, Rhythm, and the Constitution of Community 32 Notes to Chapter 1 202 Chapter 2: Singing Democracy: Music and Politics 60 Notes to Chapter 2 206 Chapter 3: Rameau and Rousseau on Absolute and Relative Value: The Theory/Practice Problem 88 Notes to Chapter 3 210 Chapter 4: Folk Music: Authenticity, Primitivism, and the Uses of Roots Music 128 Notes to Chapter 4 217 Chapter 5: Rousseau and Aesthetic Modernity: Music’s Power of Redemption 160 Notes to Chapter 5 223 Conclusion: Rousseau Sings the Blues 186 Notes to Conclusion 226 Notes 200 Bibliography 230 Index 240 COVER Back 254 "Reevaluates Jean-Jacques Rousseau through the lens of music theory to question his contribution to thinking about music as an aesthetic force in social life. Links Rousseau's understanding of concepts in music to the problem of the individual's relationship to the social order"--Provided by publisher.;Performance, rhythm, and the constitution of community -- Singing democracy : music and politics -- Rameau and Rousseau on absolute and relative value : the theory/practice problem -- Folk music : authenticity, primitivism, and the uses of roots music -- Rousseau and aesthetic modernity : music's power of redemption. This book reevaluates Jean-Jacques Rousseau through the lens of music theory to question his contribution to thinking about music as an aesthetic force in social life. The author links Rousseau's understanding of concepts in music to the problem of the individual's relationship to the social order. -- Provided by publisher