How We Listen to Music Critical Analysis Essay 

.”In Aaron Copland’s piece How We Listen To Music, the purpose underscored would be to inform and educate readers. Copland employs coherent and potent examples that help convey his message to his readers, regardless of their musical mastery. Throughout breaking down music into different layers, Copland aids the readers in demystifying the complex nature of music for ‘simple-minded souls’ while also helping professional musicians to comprehend music more comprehensively. Copland’s purpose throughout his piece is to advance the ability of the readers to understand the true intricate nature of music, advising the readers on common mistakes that most music listeners fall into that would be detrimental to the message that a specific piece of music is supposed to convey. Throughout this essay, it will be highlighted how Copland’s use of simple language, real-world examples, and logic helps construct a message that will aid the readers in improving their ability to hear more attentively and meaningfully music.   

Firstly, Copland provides three planes at which listeners can comprehend music.   

These layers are defined as the sensuous plane, the expressive plane, and the sheerly musical plane. The sensuous plane as Copland puts it “It is the plane on which we hear music without thinking, without considering it in any way… A kind of brainless but attractive state of mind is engendered by the mere sound appeal of the music.”(Copland 1). This plane of musical learning as Copland highlighted is the category into which many music listeners fall, even listeners who may consider themselves as ‘serious’ music listeners fall within this plane of listening even tending to abuse it. Copland’s use of language, as he uses words such as ‘we’ and ‘mere sound appeal’ helps the reader understand his text through the use of plural first-world perspective that invites the reader to engage in his piece of work yet also understand it due to its simple diction.  

Copland elaborates on the fact that music shouldn’t be a passive progress but an active one at which listeners, regardless of their level of proficiency should utilize it in their musical journey.  Copland’s use of simple diction helps in broadening his audience whether it be simple everyday listeners or music composers at the professional level. Copland is still able to provide insight, thus illustrating how his use of simple diction and coherent examples helps in delivering his point of view clearly to the music lovers who are the main audience that this writing is targeted for.  

  Throughout Copland’s writing, he utilizes many historical and relevant examples from the time of famous composers such as Igor Stravinsky. He clarifies the expressive plane of music, to help readers understand that music is difficult to define into a certain definition “Did not Stravinsky himself proclaim that his music was an “object,” a “thing,” with a life of its own, and with no other meaning than its own purely musical existence? “(Copland 2). This text underscores how Stravinsky, a famous mid-20th American music composer at the time clarifies that music in itself is difficult to define as it is an intricate piece of work that conveys a spectrum of emotions such as sadness, happiness, and tranquility which may all occur at a singular piece of music. He uses Stravinsky’s viewpoint to highlight how music in its intricate parts, although conveying a meaning must be taken as a general concept by the listeners and not an idea that dominates their process of musical learning that forces them into defining each word, and note or musical note to an emotion or event. While Copland is shown to agree with Stravinsky, he discourages the readers from engaging in music just for the mere objective of pinpointing an emotion, mood, or meaning to it. This approach to his writing, adds a layer of credibility to his words as he utilizes historical examples of inspirational and large music composers at the time, while also signifying to the readers that engaging in broader music learning and theories is critical.   

Copland throughout his writing attempts to appeal to a broad yet specific audience, music lovers. Regardless of his audience’s proficiency in music, Copland assumes that his audience is people who are interested in music itself and strive to improve their ability to learn music analytically. He also assumes that music has an intrinsically profound value and that listeners are responsible in striving to learn and understand as he highlights this by breaking down music into three planes. His values point towards the fact that most music is interpreted in an elementary manner, at which most listeners interpret the melody and correlate the music as “the more the music reminds them of a train, a storm, a funeral, or any other familiar conception the more expressive it appears to be to them. (Copland 3). This text underscores how Copland discourages the idea of listening to music at the expressive level and implores the readers to indulge more in the musical journey, this highlights how Copland positions himself throughout the writing as a figure of credibility who values analytical thinking, thoughtfulness and subliminally listening to music to improve one’s musical prowess. This text shows how Copland advocates for the readers to interpret music as a piece of art while looking at it in a more introspective manner and not just to ‘mindlessly’ listen to music that the listener subjectively gives a certain mood for.   

Furthermore, Copland’s purpose throughout the writing would be to inform and educate the reader so they could become more active listeners who think profoundly about music. His diction underscores this because Copland utilizes logical syntax and easy examples for readers to interpret regardless of their musical proficiency. Copland desires to educate both the average music listener and even professional musicians alike, by helping them understand the common downfalls that each of them may fall towards, as Copland states, “most listeners are not sufficiently conscious of this third plane…. Professional musicians, on the other hand, are, if anything, too conscious of the mere notes themselves”(Copland 5). This text elucidates the fact about how Copland aspires to educate his readers about music, as he indulges into the fine details of music listening to educate both types of readers on how these mistakes affect people’s interpterion of music, its emotions, and purpose. Copland appeals to the element of ethos greatly as he quotes famous composers such as Igor Stravinsky and also speaks about others such as  Mozart, and Beethoven. This aids Copland credibility, because it underscores popular and credible musi composer’s whom were renowned for their musical prowess, such as writing and playing these songs which were paramount in revolutionizing the music industry at the time .Copland dissects each of their opinions and uses them to further increase his credibility, which is evident alone in the fact that he uses comprehensive musical explanations and logical reasoning to heighten his credibility and sense of paramount knowledge of the matter alone. This helps in understanding the fact that Copland, mainly appeals to ethos throughout his piece of writing by using the opinions of professionals on the topic, displaying profound knowledge on the matter, and logically structuring his work to inform and inspire others.    

Thus it’s evident, that in  How We Listen To Music Copland utilizes rhetorical strategies to educate his readers about the different ways in which they interact with music itself. Throughout clear and approachable diction, logical syntax, and use of relevant examples. Copland, use of dissecting music into three different planes, and how he explains each plane with the use of relevant evidence. As Copland explains the expressive, sensational and musical plane to help elaborate on how people should listen to music in a more cohesive manner. As Copland  also highlights many qualities such as active listening, open-mindedness and analytical thinking which are qualities that Copland wants people to possess while listening to music. Copland also quotes credible music composers of the time and use them as an example to highlight the proper way music is to be understood. Copland encourages the readers to further engage in music beyond the basic level and become more analytical of the music itself as a whole. Ultimately, his writing is created to educate people and implore them to become more attentive as they listen to music in their everyday lives.   

Work Cited Page  

Copland, Aaron. How We Listen to Music. Revised Edition, The Viking Press, 1957.