Sound Mimesis and Aesthetic Metamorphosis: The 19th Century as a Critical Stage in the History of Musical Thought

Abstract

The theory of sonic affinity (Campos, 2016) considers that the human musical brain is modeled by the action of sounds received since ear formation, generating sound and aesthetic profiles in mimetic processes integrated in the evolutionary logic. Applied to the field of historical musicology, it allows analyzing the 19th century as a determining stage of musical mutations following the industrial revolution, which smashed the sound stillness of the Ancient Regime with the noise of steam engines, mechanical spinners and the railroad. The orchestra grew unstoppable, the piano doubled its predecessors in power and possibilities, the metronome and the pianola became universal, and cultured compositions developed previously unthinkable features and complexity. Likewise, the human voice drowned temporarily under the instrumental avalanche.