Russ – Sentiment and intuition in the aesthetics of Javanese music

Junyi Zheng (School of Music, Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210013)

(School of Education and Humanities, Changzhou Institute of Technology, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213002)

[Abstract] Javanese caramela music is an important representative of Indonesian music, known for its varied timbre layers, rich dynamic changes and improvisational performance methods, and is a treasure of the world's national music. The article conducts an in-depth discussion of Russ- this important Concept of Javanese Music Aesthetics, clarifies the core position of Russ in Javanese Caramellan music, which is an important way for people to correctly listen to Javanese music and understand Indonesian culture, emphasizes the need to understand the beauty of Caramellin music from a linguistic and cultural perspective, and puts forward several enlightenments for contemporary music aesthetics research on this basis: First, multidisciplinary background knowledge is the basis for contemporary music aesthetic research; second, Eastern and Western music belong to different aesthetic systems. It is necessary to be good at using their respective musical languages to carry out equal dialogue; third, the cultural identity of researchers is of great significance in musical aesthetics.

[Keywords] Ras; Javanese music; aesthetics; sensuality; intuition

Gamelan music has an important place in the world's national music. The French Impressionist composer Debussy was so impressed with this music that he drew inspiration from it. The Dutch ethnomusicologist Koonster and the American ethnomusicologist Hood have also conducted in-depth research on gamelan and published monographs. Marc Benamou's book Affect and Intuition in Javanese Musical Aesthetics (hereinafter referred to as "Russ") introduces Russ, an important concept of Javanese musical aesthetics, which will be further analyzed in this article with a view to the study of contemporary musical aesthetics, especially in the East. The study of western music aesthetic dialogue has some implications.

First, the aesthetics of Javan caramella music - Russ

Mark Ben Ammu makes it clear in the preface to Russ: "Russ" is a study of musical language, which deals with how Javanese musicians use language to describe the meaning of their music. Understand what Javanese musicians hear through linguistic cues, the most important of which is how they feel when they listen to music. [1] Preface, xi's study of the aesthetics of the "Russ" of the Gamelan music should grasp the following three aspects:

(i) The "taste" of Javanese musical aesthetics (rasa: Russ)

The Javanese word for "Russ" is the most elusive for non-native speakers, and it produces different meanings in different contexts, and even some subtle variations in similar contexts. It is associated with highly developed cognitive theories that differ greatly from modern European and North American musical aesthetic ideas. The nearest meaning to "Russ" is "feeling", and Russ in music is often translated as "feeling" or "inner meaning", but it sometimes means "the ability to express the inner meaning of perception and feeling" or "the ability to use one's own feelings" (intuition). [1] 40 The word Rasasa is derived from Sanskrit and often means affect, mood, feeling, and intuition, which is often the core word for Javanese music criticism, performance, and listening. For Javanese musicians, the meaning of music lies in Russ. In Sanskrit, the word Russ is widely used and varies greatly, and many words are derived from the word. These include "yuan qi", "juice", "essence", "spinal cord", "medicine", "milk", "slurry", "yuan qi", etc., which are still used in modern Javanese. In addition to this, the commonly used are "inner meaning" and "speech and subtle feelings". In the Javanese written expression, it often means "mysterious" and "secret", but there are some differences in spelling. In addition, when people use Russ, they often use the method of adding affixes to transform it into a verb, into "to feel" and "to understand", which contains a dynamic process, which is not only explained as the dynamic of the thing itself, but also contains the dynamic of constantly changing feelings. [1]41

(ii) The central position of "taste" in Javanese Solo Caramella music

Why Russ occupies such an important position in Javanese music, Mark Benam summarized the importance of Russ in several points: 1. In order to understand Javanese music, you must first understand Russ; 2. Russ is the language of music; 3. Russ is the correct listening; 4. Russ is the basic quality of musicians in the bureau. [1] Important hints from 199 to 209 include: First, the emphasis on the need to look at the meaning of music from the perspective of the pure aesthetics of Western art. Just as a couple discusses what to eat for dinner is far more significant than dinner for them. Mark Ben ammu disagreed with Hanslik's view of the aesthetics of self-discipline and argued that, although the non-Western traditions had a strong aesthetic feeling, the non-universality of Western music had led us to consider "de-aestheticization." [1] Preface, xvii, he also argues that the symbolism of music lies in its use, in its function, in its ability to distinguish between group identity, ritual space, time, and other factors. [1] Preface, xv He emphasizes that to understand Russ, it is necessary to be familiar with Javanese society, to be familiar with the playing of Javanese instruments, and to constantly communicate with Javanese musicians and non-musicians. [1] 209 Second, the study of Russ is a study of musical language. Javanese musicians use language to describe the meaning of music, so it is necessary to understand what Javanese musicians hear through linguistic clues, and the most important of which is how participants feel when listening to music. Mark Ben am agreed with Wittgenstein's view that the essence of philosophy is language,[1]preface, xv, which he mentions: First, in order to find out what musical experience is, it is necessary to practice it; secondly, when people say they feel it, they do not necessarily really feel it; when people say they believe, they do not necessarily really believe it. Again, it's almost impossible to say exactly what music makes a person feel, or what the character of the music is. [1] 202–205 Music anthropologists have based on some important theories in linguistics that the ambiguous features of a musical system are precisely the embodiment of its significance. Third, there are ways in which emotions can transcend cultural barriers. In any Javanese music context, one of the important things is the emotional taste of the music. Sometimes, if not universal, it is at least possible to gain an understanding of cross-cultural music. [1] The significance of the preface, xvii's cross-cultural understanding of Russ is also the significance of the book written by the author of Russ. He argues that if musical culture is incomprehensible to each other under an absolute perception, then outsiders can never learn to listen like insiders, and Russ is an important way to help us move from outsiders to insider feelings, so that we can begin to understand music other than ourselves.

(iii) Aesthetics of Javanese Solo Caramella music from a linguistic and cultural perspective

Russ examines the importance of the aesthetics of Gamelan music from a linguistic and cultural perspective by analyzing concrete examples. [1] 91 This includes: 1. The beauty of worship. For example, older musicians have more Russ in their performances than younger musicians, but sometimes for modern ears they play without Ras at all. 2. Inner beauty. For example, analytics and technology are harmful to Russ, yet in order for people to acquire Russ in their performance, they must be very familiar with traditional technical knowledge. Those who lived in the countryside had more Rus than those who lived in the cities, but those who lived in the court had (or had) more Russ than others. Female musicians tend to have more intuition than men (hence, we can say they have more Russ), but female musicians can also ruin the Russ in their performances by ignoring something. Playing in a step-by-step manner would certainly cost a person's Russ, but in order to gain Rus in the performance, it was necessary to have the knowledge of Russ. 3, moderate and suitable beauty. For example: singing too fast and too slow will ruin Russ. Very flowery melodies or rhythmic patterns can ruin Russ, and very bland melodies can make Ras tasteless. If musicians are too serious, they will lose Russ, and if musicians are too pompous, they will not have Russ. Mark Ben Ammu noted that for a piece or a performance, people are mainly concerned with how many "flavors" or "flavors" are contained in them. When focusing on the performers, the main focus is on their ability to understand and express the emotional essence of a work during the performance. The first important conclusion from the study of the aesthetics of Javanese Solo Caramella through linguistic and cultural perspectives is [1] preface, xvii: the meaning of music is obtained through learning, just like the meaning of linguistics. Hanslik objected to the meaning of musical associations, arguing that the same work could elicit different interpretations. But Mark Ben amm argues that this is a misreading of the nature of association, and according to Wittgenstein's theory, the meaning of the hypothesis of linguistics is also greatly related. Knowing a language by understanding how it speaks does not mean that language is not indicative. Similarly, one has to grasp the meaning of musical patterns by obtaining linguistic cues, which does not mean that these patterns are meaningless in Hanslik's emotional sound pattern (Tönend bewegte Formen).

Second, the emotional taste and intuitive way

About the classification of taste and intuition. Mark Benam argues that if we want to understand Russ's complex classification, we must first take into account the following points, including: the length, age, familiarity, and difficulty of the work; gender; speed, rhythm, dynamics, range, melody, mode; liveliness, ornateness; the chronological order of the program throughout the day, and the relevance of the refinement and classification of social classes. According to the methodology, Russ can be defined from the following aspects. First, 14 key terms, including: charming, sassy; masculine; sad; vibrant; solemn, rich; sad, troubled; happy; funny; spectacular; exquisite; tense, exciting; comfortable; classic, noble, mysterious; bulky. And analyze the binary antagonistic relationship between these descriptive words. Second, five continuums. These include: a continuum from "heavy" to "light", from "old" to "new"; from "big" to "small", from "difficult" to "easy"; from "calm" to "lively" continuum; from masculine to feminine beauty; from simplicity to brilliant and colorful continuum. Third, six clusters, the words associated with Russ are like a circle, a wheel, some of which have a clear connection, and some of which have no connection. For example, the word sedih embodies something more than sadness: it is a heavy, relatively difficult part, and it should be simple to play, not particularly macho, but it is alus and very firm. These are a priori knowledge structures, but are important for understanding the descriptions of Javanese musicians. The six clusters include the Regu cluster, the Sereng cluster, the Sedhih cluster, the Prenes cluster, the Berag cluster, and the Gecul cluster. [1] 51 In addition, the author compares the classifications of Russ by three ethnic musicians, emphasizing that every change in the rhythm of Javan caramela is related to a change in mood, which is very meaningful, because it is diametrically opposed to the view that Eastern music is static in the Western music world.

Secondly, it is the interconnection between the musical context and the emotional and intuitive way. An important purpose of Russ's book is to clarify how the concept of musical sound depends on the musical environment. [1] Preface, xv In the course of writing, Mark Ben ammu has been trying to build a bridge between music and context, aesthetics and history, music and society, musicology and anthropology, and ethnomusicology. The definition of "musical context" emphasizes two aspects: the performer and the environment in which the performance is performed. Among them, the influence of performers on emotional taste and intuitive way is reflected in three main aspects: their personality, their personal background (including their personal career background and musical literacy training background), and their personal situation (age, relationship with other people) when performing. The performance environment is related to the words that begin with the five W's, including where (where)? When?? Why? Who? What? Exploring the interconnection between musical context and emotional and intuitive ways is the second important purpose of Russ's book.[1] preface, xvii. The author argues that the more familiar a person is with a piece of music, the more experience he will have in the musical context (also known as the "previous text"), and the person will be able to introduce some kind of interconnected sentiment than others. In addition, if one's purpose is to learn to conform to certain linguistic habits, then one must pay more attention to the musical context (whose piece, who played it, place, why, when, why the person created or performed the piece and other activities associated with it), thus compensating for the "previous text" experience.

On how to perceive and express sentiments and intuitive ways. In the book, the author emphasizes that if the performer wants to express the content of the music by playing or singing, he must first understand the content, and for the experienced and knowledgeable audience, the performance must be audible, and the content here refers to Russ. [1] 158 For Javanese musicians, when Russ is used as "the content of music", it often refers to an emotion or a sentiment, but it can also refer to something more specific (e.g., a melody) that makes it easier to express. Because this content is first and foremost an emotion, the expression of Russ involves understanding and feeling, just like Russ himself. The recognition of the word "understanding" is primarily an intuition about what a piece of music primarily produces, and sometimes this feeling may require more thinking and more self-awareness (e.g., in a class, or through dialogue). This understanding is a whole and cannot be broken down. The word "expression" can be a little misleading for readers, because since the 19th century, in Western music, the word expression has often been associated with emotional communication, can reveal a person's inner emotions, or add personal labels to music. In the words of Susan Lange: Even in the West, artistic expression is not self-expression. [1] 156 In our perception and expression of affection and intuition, then, we must pay attention to the following issues: first, a piece of music has one or more styles; second, a musical performance also has a certain style; third, a sensitive listener can experience and feel the style of a performance; and finally, the style of performance is not necessarily synchronized with the style of the music, and the performer may not be able to successfully express the style of the music, or produce the appropriate lass for the listener.

III. The Enlightenment of Russ on the Study of Musical Aesthetics

On the one hand, "Russ" helps us to better understand the taste and intuition in Caramella music, and provides us with rich perceptual knowledge and theoretical basis for understanding the aesthetics of Carmelon music, on the other hand, many important views in "Russ" also have important enlightenment for our contemporary music aesthetics, especially the study of oriental music aesthetics, which mainly include the following aspects:

First of all, multidisciplinary background knowledge is the basis for the study of musical aesthetics. In this book, Mark Ben ammu constantly emphasizes the importance of philosophy, linguistics, sociology and other related knowledge to the aesthetics of Javanese music , the "Russ" study, and constantly tries to build a bridge between music and context, aesthetics and history, music and society, musicology and anthropology, and ethnomusicology. This kind of research that can simultaneously deal with aesthetics, musical language, emotional concepts of cultural construction, and Javanese culture in general will make the study very interesting, and this kind of research will be of great significance not only to ethnomusicologists, but also to music aestheticians, cognitive anthropologists, psychologists, linguists, Southeast Asian scholars, and musicologists who pay attention to musical sentiments. Just as "Language, Body, other" is a frontier topic of postmodern philosophy or Western contemporary philosophy[2], in our research on Chinese music and Eastern music, it is incomplete to collect and organize audio materials alone, we must think and explore the concept of Oriental history, Oriental language, Oriental culture and Oriental music, study Oriental music through multiple different and interrelated disciplinary perspectives, and then obtain a systematic understanding of Eastern music.

Secondly, the East and the West belong to different musical aesthetic systems. In his book, Mark Ben ammu always emphasizes that Javanese musical aesthetics has a very different view from the traditional musical aesthetics of the West, which helps us to recognize the uniqueness of the cultural philosophy of Eastern musical aesthetics. Ras is derived from the basis of Sanskrit and mythology, and is closely related to the philosophy of Eastern culture. Therefore, the ontology of Eastern music cannot separate it from human conceptual cognition and linguistic identity as a whole, and it is of great significance for overcoming the limitations of pure musical aesthetics of separating Western music subjects and objects, and returning the discussion of the essence of "music" to the foundation of human thinking and behavior. Oriental music has its own aesthetic view and language view of its own civilization, we should start from our own aesthetic perspective, use our own musical language to carry out two-way interpretation and two-way transmission of Eastern and Western musical civilization, so as to carry out equal dialogue. [3]

Finally, cultural identity has important implications in the study of musical aesthetics. The cultural identity here mainly refers to the cultural identity of the researcher. In his research, the authors have been referring to their own cultural identity, emphasizing the differences between their environment of growth and the social, cultural and linguistic environment described in the book in Thoreau, Java, rather than emphasizing the identity of the researcher and the person studied. Through a review of the experience of studying and studying Javanese gamelan music, I clarified my transformation from an outsider, a learner, to an insider's understanding. As Mark Ben ammu says in his book: The object of ethnographer's study is, of course, a subject, a living, thinking organism. His research is therefore bound to differ from that of musicologists who speak Javanese or Indonesian, and he welcomes comparisons between his statements about the Javanese language, music, and the Javanese music world with those of other music scholars. As Bruno Nettl quotes his teacher as saying, an outsider will never understand music the way an insider does, and perhaps the greatest expectation of an outsider is to find something that the insider doesn't notice but makes sense. [4] This is precisely the significance of our dialogue with the aesthetics of Eastern and Western music today.

bibliography:

[1] Marc Benamou. Affect and Intuition in Javanese Musical Aesthetics[M]. Oxford :Oxford University Press,2010.

Yang Dachun. Language, Body, and otherness: Three Themes of Contemporary French Philosophy[M]. Beijing:Sanlian Bookstore,2007.]

Guan Jianhua. Differences between Eastern and Western Music and Dialogue between Civilizations[J]. Music & Art,2014,(1):91.

[4] Bruno Nettel. Research on Ethnomusicology[M]. Shanghai:Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press,2012:135.]

(Editor-in-charge: Li Xiaoge)

[Middle Figure Class Number] J601；J607

[Document Identification Code] A

[Article NUMBER] 1008-9667 (2017) 02-0025-04

Received:2016-12-25

About author:Zheng Junyi (1980-), female, Anqing, Anhui, PhD candidate of the School of Music of Nanjing University of the Arts in 2016, lecturer of the School of Education and Humanities of Changzhou Institute of Technology, research direction: Oriental music culture.