THINKING ON MUSIC

exploring music in the human experience

Music as Rhetoric
Jonathan L. Friedmann, Ph.D.

Rhetoric, the art of persuasive communication, has origins in the earliest human civilizations. Persuasion by speech was a pillar of classical Greek educa-
tion, and ancient writings from China, Mesopotamia, Egypt and elsewhere show varying levels and types of formalized rhetoric. Cicero identi�ed the tripar-
tite purpose of rhetoric as docere, movere, delectare—to teach, to move, to delight—a formula later claimed by Augustine for Christian oratory. In a less sys-
tematic way, these ambitions are present in vocal music, which aims to inform, convince and/or motivate a targeted audience.

The conception of music as rhetoric has developed into a minor, though enriching, topic of philosophy and musicology. Scholars of these disciplines are
cognizant that a careful pairing of text and tones is often better at teaching, moving and delighting than an unaccompanied message.

Of particular note are theories pertaining to musico-liturgical performances in Jewish and Christian contexts. Music in these settings is valued for its ability
to simultaneously convey conceptual and emotional content. Whether it is a choral piece, congregational melody, plainsong, biblical chant or something
else, music is relied upon for ideological grooming, social conditioning, identity shaping and morale building. This succeeds both because of the emotional-
izing e�ect of the sound and because the listener does not anticipate persuasion. Unlike a speech or debate, a song tends to be convincing without overtly
revealing its objective.

The e�ectiveness of musical rhetoric has less to do with the music itself than the intention and conviction of the presenter(s) and/or composer. The use of
song to sway a congregation has roots in biblical prophecy, which was closer to chant or speech-melody than true singing. The three-fold task of the
prophet was to capture the people’s attention, admonish them for apparent sins, and compel them to live in accordance with religious precepts. The liter-
ary prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve Minor Prophets—voiced their pronouncements as poetry, an auditory medium closely related to
(and arguably identical with) music.

Their style of oration was probably similar to that of Baptist preachers, whose sermons freely employ musical devices and exhibit movement reminiscent
of a crafted composition. They begin with relaxed speech at normal volume, but as the talk intensi�es, vocal pitch and decibels dramatically rise and fall.
The preachers insert dramatic pauses, exaggerated punctuations, sustained syllabi�cations, poetic locutions and repeated phrases. The congregation is
emotionally drawn to accept the content of the stylized discourse.

Rhetorical potential is present in music of divergent genres and situations. Whether it is the speech-song of a prophet or preacher, a Baroque piece guided
by the doctrine of a�ections, or a blues song saturated with raw emotion, music is uniquely able to penetrate and win over the mind and spirit. We are
compelled to feel what the performer feels and believe what the performer believes. And when we are ourselves the performers, it is almost impossible to
avoid being moved in the direction the piece wishes to lead us.
Visit Jonathan’s website to keep up on his latest endeavors, browse his book and article archives, and listen to sample compositions.

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This entry was posted in aesthetics, Bible, emotions, music, philosophy, preaching, prophecy, rhetoric, singing, worship and tagged Bible, Emotions, Music,
Philosophy, Preaching, Prophecy on November 16, 2012 [https://thinkingonmusic.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/music-as-rhetoric/] .

14 thoughts on “Music as Rhetoric”

hakop
March 1, 2013 at 1:47 am
FANTASTIC article. thank you truly.

jlfriedmann Post author

March 1, 2013 at 1:58 am

Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Brittany
December 20, 2013 at 12:09 am

Woow! this is an awesome piece! you have really open up my mind to allow me to understand the concept and goal that many artist aim to gain…never
new they were considered the prophets!!
 jlfriedmann Post author

December 20, 2013 at 12:21 am

Thanks! I’m glad this is of use to you.

Elisabeth
August 7, 2014 at 9:00 pm

Hi! I’m a Norwegian Musical Theatre student and I’m starting to write my Bachelor in Musical theatre; where my “subject” is;
What kind of Muisical Rhetorics are used to show the di�erence between the antagonists within a Musical, and why are the used.
Do you know about any books or more articles I should read?
It would help me a great deal. 🙂

jlfriedmann Post author

August 7, 2014 at 10:28 pm

Hi Elisabeth. This article on musical characterization may be useful: http://www.rogerbissell.com/id11i.html

You might also explore the development and functions of leitmotifs, and the broader connection of music and language, such as Deryck Cooke’s classic,
The Language of Music (1959).
I hope this helps. Good luck!

Eric
August 16, 2014 at 3:25 pm

Hello Jonathan, do you recommend any books on rhetoric/music/sound?

jlfriedmann Post author

August 16, 2014 at 9:37 pm

There are a few older texts that might be of interest: Dwight Bolinger’s The Symbolism of Music, Hermann Keller’s Phrasing and Articulation: A Contribution
to a Rhetoric of Music, and Deryck Cooke’s The Language of Music. These books address the issues of conveying meaning, evoking emotions, and persuad-
ing listeners through musical sounds. Is that the sort of thing you’re looking for?

Eric Kehoe
August 17, 2014 at 1:38 pm

Yes, thanks, I think these will be a good starting point. I am a grad student studying rhetoric/composition and also am fascinated by music. It’d be great to
merge the two in some capacity.

Stephanie
October 22, 2014 at 1:36 am

Jonathan,
I am so glad to have come across this post. I am currently writing a paper on rave culture and how music functions as a speech act. I would greatly appreci-
ate if you are able to lead me in a new direction. Thank you in advance!

jlfriedmann Post author

October 22, 2014 at 3:57 am

This case study, “The Aesthetics of Protest in UK Rave” — https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/article/view/287/264 — touches on issues that (I
think) you’re exploring: rhetorical force, “performative protest,” group identity, etc.

This one — Steven Brown’s introduction to Music and Manipulation: On the Social Uses and Social Control of Music, edited by Brown and Ulrik Volgsten —
addresses the persuasiveness of music more generally: http://www.neuroarts.org/pdf/M&M_Chapter_1.pdf

I hope these help…

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globalvoicesweb
February 8, 2017 at 10:40 pm

Hi Jonathan, thank you for your very insightful article! I’m a jazz BMus student who has composed music for a multilingual choir to shed light on the work
interpreters and translators do (see http://www.globalvoicesweb.wordpress.com for more details). I’m also an EFL teacher who is evermore thinking about
doing an MA analysing improvised musics linguistically such as Baroque, Jazz, Indian classical, Flamenco, Jewish Hazzan, Islamic Muezzin and Arabic
Taqasim etc. I have discovered your article and the rhetoric in music by chance and have lots to catch up on. I wondered whether you know about Hatto
Beyerle and his work at ECMA? I have bought ‘Speech, Music, Sound’ by Leeuwen that looks at the communicative use of sound and have read ‘The Singing
Neanderthals’ by Mithen that traces the evolutionary history of music, predating it to language. In jazz there are a couple of books looking at jazz as a lan-
guage such as ‘Developing a jazz language’ by Bergonzi. I will read your recommendations by Bolinger, Cooke and Keller and have found a couple more
namely ‘Wordless rhetoric’ by Bonds and ‘Haydn and the performance of rhetoric’ by Beghin and Goldberg. Do you recommend these? and/or are there
other sources analysing music linguistically or anything else relevant that I should �nd? Many thanks, Frank

jlfriedmann Post author

February 8, 2017 at 11:24 pm

Hi Frank – Thanks for reading my little post. Your potential MA topic is intriguing. In the styles you mention, the interconnectedness of melody and lan-
guage are very apparent – that is, how the �ow, tonal variety, stresses, rhythm, etc. of a given language in�uence the melodic line. That connection has
been at the heart of evolutionary discussions of song and speech since the beginning. (I’ve touched on the debate between Darwin and Herbert Spencer
here: https://thinkingonmusic.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/musical-dialects/; and the basic relationship of song and speech here:
https://thinkingonmusic.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/whistled-speech/). I haven’t read the books by Bond or Beghin and Goldberg; there are many, many
volumes and articles out there addressing this broad topic from di�erent angles. Just search “music” “language” in Google Books and Google Scholar. Your
GlobalVoices project is fascinating. I’m not familiar with the ECMA – I’ll check it out!