Source: Charming China, issue 1, August 2065438.
Contributed by/Yin Feifei 1 Lu Ren2
[Introduction] Architecture is a visual art with a sense of continuity in space; Music is a kind of auditory art, and it is a space that continues to expand in a certain period of time.
The classified query of periodical articles can be found in the periodical database Yin Feifei 1 Renlu 2.
(1 Henan Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd.; Art Education Center of Zhongzhou University, Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000)
Abstract: Architecture is a visual art with spatial continuity. Music is a kind of auditory art, and it is a space that continues to expand in a certain period of time. Music expresses space in time, and architecture reflects time in space. European philosophers once said: "Music is a flowing building, and architecture is a solidified music".
Keywords: architecture; Music; Fine arts; get in touch with
China Library ClassificationNo.: TU-80TU-854 Document ID: A DocumentNo.:1673-0992 (2010) 08A-01-02.
Music and architecture are different kinds of arts and disciplines, but architecture and music are both forms of artistic expression, which both embody the unique feelings of human beings. Architecture is a visual art with spatial continuity. It is a plastic art to build a place for people to live and move through the aesthetic treatment of the shape, structure, space, color and texture of the building. Music is an auditory art, a space that continues to unfold in a certain period of time, and a sound art that expresses people's thoughts and feelings and reflects real life through organized artistic images in terms of sound level, length, strength and timbre.
When you listen to Beethoven's symphony, the dramatic development of music theme and the structural combination of multi-level sounds can present a vast and magnificent space world through psychological functions such as synaesthesia and synaesthesia. Similarly, when you wander in medieval Gothic architecture, it seems as if you are enjoying a famous classical song. Upward lines are as powerful as gorgeous high windows, and rows of columns and pointed arches have a strong sense of rhythm. From the prelude of the square to the theme of the bell tower, after a long Bayurika, it reached the climax of the altar. How subtle is the summary of European philosophers: "Music is a flowing building, and architecture is a solidified music".
First, music is a flowing building.
"Music is a flowing building" means that although music keeps playing in the flow of time, it has a rigorous structure and formal beauty inside, which comes from a certain proportion. Pythagoras, an ancient Greek mathematician, and his school found that the height, length and dynamics of various scales were formed according to a certain quantitative proportional relationship. Later, he extended this discovery to architecture, and thought that the harmony of architecture was also related to comparison. Pythagoras and later some famous aesthetes and architects believed that if the length, width and body of a building were in a certain proportion, it could visually produce a sense of rhythm similar to music. Hegel, a German philosopher, once took the beauty of three forms of stone pillars in ancient Greek architecture as an example, specifically explaining that due to the different proportions of the volume, length and spacing of abutment, column and eaves, there are differences in styles such as solemnity, beauty and richness, just like singing praises, lyric songs and multi-voice chorus in music. This just shows that both music and architecture have a digital beauty.
1. Repetition technique
In music creation, "repetition" is one of the most important basic composing techniques, and so is architectural design. There are striking similarities between them. In architecture, of course, this repetition must be the repetition of visual elements caused by architectural design, such as light and shadow, color, columns, openings and indoor volume. Most of the effects of architecture depend on the coordination, simplicity and sense of strength of these rhythmic relationships. The repetition of Double Arch in the Colosseum in Rome, the beautiful colonnades in Greek temples, the pointed arches and vertical repetitions in Gothic churches, and the repetition of the promenade in the Summer Palace in Beijing. There are regular repetitions that are common in classical music.
Therefore, those undulating buildings are so harmonious because they are full of beautiful "melodies" and abide by the unique laws of architectural beauty. The reason why those magnificent symphonic music works are so symmetrical and complete is that they have a rigorous structure and embody the unique law of musical beauty.
2. Grasp the structure
The formal structure in music, such as the smallest structure in musical form-square music (called statement, consolidation, development and ending in traditional European music), is strikingly similar to the typical quadrilateral structure in Beijing. As the four movements of the symphony, it can also be said that it is a combination of expansion-inheritance-turning. These four movements are like four buildings, which are combined back and forth, left and right. The first movement comes first, the second and third movements are left and right, and the fourth movement is behind, which is also called the finale.
The beauty of music includes the beauty of music structure. However, the structure of music is limited by the theme of the work and serves it. In the process of repetition, variation, expansion, derivation, comparison and reproduction of the theme, the structure sometimes emphasizes change and sometimes unity, which is completely based on the content needs. For example, in the reproduction part of the violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers", the author omitted the "classmate recitation" that once appeared in the presentation part according to the needs of the content of the work.
3. Communication in music creation
When composers create music, they are often influenced more or less by architectural art consciously or unconsciously. Beethoven was inspired by some buildings in Paris when he wrote the Heroic Symphony. Schumann wants to express the grandeur and magnificence of Cologne Cathedral in the Third Symphony in E major, in which the short and unique theme seems to reproduce Gothic lines with music, which run through the whole music, sometimes in the form of basic themes, and sometimes like trivial fragments, so that the works have both consistent ideas and infinite expressions, and this infinite variety of expressions is the characteristic of Gothic architecture. In this regard, Tchaikovsky once said: "A few music scores created by great musicians inspired by the supreme beauty of the cathedral, just like the cathedral itself, can set up an immortal monument for future generations to depict the profound inner world of mankind."
Second, architecture is solidified music.
Architecture, solidified music. Originated from an ancient and beautiful legend-Ophio, a famous young singer, was born in Thrace a long time ago in Europe. His voice was gifted, and he was the first god to name all kinds of wood and stone objects. He was able to revive a bunch of dead things with divine power, so he was favored by Apollo in the sacred family of Mount Olympus. Apollo got a seven-string harp and asked the muse, the goddess of literature and art, to teach him the art of music. One day, orpheus was inspired to play the harp. Its voice is beautiful, and the mountains move and dance for it. Running water gathered the gods to help them listen. The wood and stone injected with life were intoxicated by the sound of the piano and immediately built beautiful buildings on the ground according to its melody. The music is over, and the sound is lingering, but the rhythm and melody of music are always fixed on these buildings. This highly aesthetic myth not only tells the origin of architecture, but also tells the aesthetic relationship between architectural image and musical artistic image, which makes the aesthetic metaphor of "architecture is solidified music or architecture is silent music" spread.
In fact, comparing architecture to solidified music means that if the time flow of music is completely solidified, we can see the modeling characteristics such as strict mathematical proportion, symmetry and balance, and the connection between music form and architectural structure from music or music score.
1. Music language in architecture
Zhu Guangqian said in his book History of Western Aesthetics: "The ups and downs, proportional structure and harmonious changes of architectural space and image reflect the melody of music."
In terms of modeling and color, the repeated ups and downs of an element produce a melody. For example, Gothic architecture, with towering spires, slender columns and countless stained glass windows, has constructed a spacious, concise and unified space. Dispersed and orderly color blocks and unified and orderly objects are just like the continuous, gradual and undulating rhythm in music. The decorations in those buildings constitute the combination of space, just like the notes in music; Those exquisite sculptures are engraved with different characters and different stories, just like that short piece of music. The stories are interrelated and form a complete secular symphony.
In terms of space, architecture is often a sequence, which needs to be gradually spread out in motion and placed in a delayed sequence to appreciate its full charm. The development of spatial sequence not only reflects the simple and clear rhythm through the continuity and repetition of space, but also reflects the cadence rhythm through the regular changes of height, fluctuation, shade, density, reality, advance and retreat, interval and so on, which is quite similar to the overture, expansion, crescendo, climax, repetition and pause in music, and can give people an exciting sense of melody. The Forbidden City in Beijing stretches for seven miles along the central axis from Zhengyangmen, Duanmen, Wumen and Taihemen to Taihe Hall, Baohe Hall, Zhonghe Hall and Jingshan. More than a dozen courtyards are staggered, with prelude, gradual strengthening, climax and binding. Hundreds of halls are strewn at random, with main body, background and contrast. A magnificent spatial sequence is like a poem.
2. The combination of architecture and music
China's four ancient echo buildings, each with its own characteristics, are world-famous. They are very musical buildings, shining with the wisdom of the working people's musical talent in architecture. The echo wall and the three-tone stone in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are fascinating, and the inner wall of the echo wall is smooth and flat, which makes the external sound pass along the inner arc and reverberate for a long time. If you stand in front of the wall and hum gently, the harmony will rise, deep and tactfully, and the expression will be beautiful; If you sing loudly, the echo will be everywhere, loud and rough, lingering in your ears and shocking.
In ancient foreign buildings, there are also famous "musical" tower buildings, such as the bell tower of Pisa church in Italy. The top floor of the tower is equipped with seven graduated clocks, which can emit seven sounds of "do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and si". It is an interesting "music tower". The leaning tower of Pisa belongs to the bell tower of Pisa Cathedral. Whenever a church ceremony is held, the clock on the tower will give out beautiful music.
There is a "music staircase" in an ancient temple in Tamil India. Stairs are repeatedly processed with granite of different materials and laid in different positions according to the rules. When you step on the stairs or tap with wood, you will make different pitches.
Third, the conclusion
Dialectical materialists believe that universality lies in particularity, and Marx also requires us to pay special attention to "their internal relations" when looking at various relationships, which is the scientific basis for guiding us to correctly look at the relationship between architecture and music.
In architecture, human beings find the connection between thinking and experience, and in music, they have the emotion and significance of human communication. In life, architecture is everywhere, and music is everywhere. Without musical architecture, artistic elements will be lost; Without architectural music, it loses its neatness. Architecture and music are mutually integrated, especially in architecture. Only by making a city's architecture have unique musical beauty can it reflect the characteristics of a city and make people live happily. It is what we should strive to achieve a truly appropriate and perfect combination of architecture and music.
References:
[1] Lin Putian. Architecture and Music, Chinese and Foreign Journal of Architecture, 1998.06.
[2] Yang Enhuan, Mei. Art, People's Publishing House, 2002.
[3] Wu Shuoxian. Music and Architecture, China Building Industry Press, 2002.
[4] Huang Guoxin. Solidified music, Tongji University Press, 2006.