11-7

According to Langer, music “is the illusion begotten by sounds [. . .], a motion of forms that are not visible, but are given to the ear instead of the eye” (107). Langer writes that unlike other arts, such as paintings, we can not visually view an actual object with music; instead, we directly hear music and from our past experiences, form a perception and our own illusion based on experiences of our own lives. Langer writes that music is virtual, “unrelated to the space of actual experience” (117). Langer believes that our own real life experiences, which occur in real measured time, are symbolically reflected when we hear music, which is virtual time (symbolic transformation of perceptions (128)).

I am a little bit confused over her explanation between real and virtual time (she seems to have a hard time explaining it also because of her numerous attempts to explain it in chapter 7). However, I agree with her assessment that each of us interprets music based on our own life experiences. For example, sometimes I hear the song and the reason I actually like it is not because it is considered a great composition, but because of the memories the song has for me in my personal life.