ETHICAL ASPECT OF THE TRANSFORMING FUNCTION OF MUSIC
Mikhail KarpychevThe article continues the earlier begun research in “Ideas and Ideals” (№-s 19, 21, 23). Now we examine the ethical aspect of the music function. ‘Music contributes to the moral perfection of people’- this well-known statement we meet in a great number of scientific and literary sources from Ancient Greece (music ethos, the “kalokagathia” doctrine – unity of Beauty and Kindness) till our days. The article's task is to argue our hypothesis about the moral aspect of music, describing the mechanisms of this impact. The main idea of the hypothesis is that it is the professionalism of a composer (as a talented person) that creates moral perfection of people and personal moral values of the composer have nothing to do with this process. The masterly organized music form triggers the mechanism of moral perfection. Just “well-made” music (not any accidental sounds' connection) evokes positive emotions, which have wholesome influence on listener's moral. The beauty of music forms has influence on auditorium; music harmony (in narrow and wide senses) contributes to the development of a harmonic person. The article contains some literary examples with the author’s music analysis, which prove the hypothesis (“Mozart and Salieri”, “War and Peace”). The highest form of this music transforming function is moral purgation (catharsis) as a result of emotional “explosion” during music listening. Music catharsis confirms “The Moral Law Within Me” (Kant).