Art and Development.A romantic sense of life is first felt as a response to existence. It can then be felt with others, but as it is built on the achievement of independence, it can never be felt before. As our premises change, our tastes adapt to match the emotional content thrown off at any given time. As romantic art is a showcase for human virtue, its themes are universal. All men can identify the basic emotion conjured by a musical piece or a scene, but they vary widely in their estimation of its value. We respond most strongly to art that reflects the current depth of integration within us. As our depth of consciousness includes more than art, we pick the elements that suit us, and leave behind those that don’t. When a work of art reflects our premises without contradiction, we will wish to add it to our medium of life. As we grow, we come to value elements previously not understood, and move past an equal number of others. Art is an evolving confirmation, continuously rewarding a man for expanding the power of his consciousness.
The structure of music can be defined mathematically, as can sight. Both operate via electric impulses, but this is only a physiological parallel. One needn’t become a math wiz to enjoy music. What is considered pleasurable by a rational consciousness must exist within a certain auditory range. Music has the power to effect the emotions directly, as it rearranges the process of cognition to begin with the reward. It moves from sensate perception to emotional response, to appraisal, to understanding. Emotionsare mathematical as well—the moving sum of the process of cognition—a living, resonant answer to one’s experiences. Sound is a natural result of the motion of entities, emanating a state of harmony or tragedy to be picked up by those having the proper organ. In the nature of sound itself—of amplitude and frequency in the propagation of a sine wave—artists recreate the flow of life. Danger vibrates within a certain range of frequency, while its amplitude determines the scale of the danger. Tranquility has its own range as well.
Life experience implicitly indicates the harmonic resonance of every human emotion to Man. For example, a child can listen to a symphony and get nothing from it, as he has yet to develop the depth necessary to experience the emotions and concepts it intends to express. As he encounters them in life, he will come to recognize and appreciate them in music.