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(1) It was Schopenhauer who first said that all arts aspire to
the condition of music; that remark has often been repeated, and
has been the cause of a good deal of misunderstanding, but it
does express an important truth. Schopenhauer was thinking of
the abstract qualities of music; (2) in music, and almost in music
alone, it is possible for the artist to appeal to his audience
directly, without the intervention of a medium of communica-
tion in common use for other purposes.
The architect must
express himself in buildings which have some utilitarian pur-
pose. The poet must use words which are bandied about in the
daily give-and-take of conversation.
The painter usually ex-
presses himself by the representation of the visible world.
(3) Only the composer of music is perfectly free to create a work
of art of his own consciousness, and with no other aim than to
But all artists have this same intention, the desire to
please.
please; and art is most simply and most usually defined as an
attempt to create pleasing forms.
一HERBERT READ, The Meaning of Art
出題校 東京芸大一音, 桐朋学園大, 慶大一医, 広島大, 西南学院大, 神戸市外語大, 立命館大一文, 芝浦
エ大,共立女大一文芸