Advances in Humanities Research
Vol. 5, 24 April 2024
Open
Access | Article
The Embodiment of Ugliness in 20th Century Western Music: A Case Study of Schoenberg's “Prelude”
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Abstract
This article traces the historical emergence and development of the concept of ugliness in Western classical art, focusing on its evolution from ancient Greece to the 20th century. Initially, beauty was revered above all else, with ugliness deemed impure and sinful. However, thinkers like Augustine introduced the idea of relative ugliness, highlighting its role as a contrast to beauty. In the 18th century, Baumgarten defined aesthetics, exploring the notion of ugliness as the opposite of beauty. Rosenkranz further categorized ugliness into natural, spiritual, and artistic forms, laying the foundation for modern ugliness studies. The tumultuous social backdrop of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the World Wars and economic disparities, saw a resurgence of interest in ugliness as a means of artistic expression. This trend manifested notably in expressionist music, exemplified by Arnold Schoenberg's adoption of the twelve-tone technique. Schoenberg's "Prelude" is analyzed to demonstrate how he utilized rhythm, meter, dynamics, and melodic direction to embody the principles of ugliness studies. The article concludes by emphasizing the significance of ugliness studies in modern and contemporary art, challenging traditional aesthetic principles and contributing to a broader understanding of artistic movements beyond beauty.
Keywords
ugliness, western classical art, beauty
References
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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- Volume Title
- ISBN (Print)
- ISBN (Online)
- Published Date
- 24 April 2024
- Series
- Advances in Humanities Research
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-7080
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-7099
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-7080/5/2024044
- Copyright
- 24 April 2024
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited