Aesthetics

Music is a systematizing of time, and various characteristics of time are reflected in music. A singular point of time passes is the present, but the present time which we understand practically, has range. The present range is different, and it is dependent on the line of connection. Also in music the present has range. For example, it can either be a tone or a first motif. Interpretation of music is changed according to which range is selected as the musical present. The various range of time according to how to take the present, is inseparable from the hierarchy of music. In concrete terms, the variety of the present range is closely related with the difference between the hierarchical units, the lower stage (short unit) and the higher stage (long unit). That is to say, the diversity in the choice of the present range proves musical hierarchy. This paper considers, by way of a schematic model, how hierarchical characters which musical present has are related with meter which is another factor that composes musical time.

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This paper has to do with problems about the purpose of having ordered the Bamberger Altar and the influence by the Reformation in Nuremberg. The new Prior of the Nuremberg Carmelites, Andreas Stoss, seems to have intended to restore order in the monastery by the altar. Then the former high altar was Holy Trinity Altar, and there was no altar concerning Prophet Elijah. It is unnatural for the Carmelites because the Order worshipped particularly the Virgin Mary and Elijah as an original founder. This also seems to have been the reason Andreas planned a new high altar and selected the theme. We notice many differences between the finished work and its preparatory drawing ; two angels with musical instruments and Passion Instruments, the attitude of St. Joseph, and two holes. These could be interpreted by Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden. In 1520 Martin Luther criticized the worship of St. Birgitta. On the contrary the Carmelites respected her. Therefore, I suppose that Stoss should have changed the iconography in order to emphasize the Carmelite characters, and in the result it became Anti-Lutheran. Thus Andreas would strengthen a unity of the monastery.

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In calligraphy Lin-sho is to copy original works in a freehand manner. Lin-sho is not only an important method to learn the technique of calligraphy but also an essential condition for its expression. In this paper, my attempt is to clarify the characteristic of calligraphy as a traditional art in China and Japan through the consideration of Lin-sho. First I inquire into the meaning of "copying" in calligraphy, then analyze the technique of works by Lin-sho. Most important in Lin-sho is the attitude to read the artistic mind of a calligrapher. Lin-sho is not merely to copy a preconceived form of letters but to enter into the ancient calligrapher's artistic intention concerning an original work of his. Calligrapher in Lin-sho introduces the mind of the ancients through the exemplary traces of the brush into himself, and at the same time expresses his mind. Lin-sho can be seen as the realization of the artistic intention. Lin-sho is one form of interpretative act that is essentially based on the dialogue between the ancient masters and calligraphers in copying. Through this dialogue calligraphers have created their own styles. Thus Lin-sho can open the way to creativity in calligraphy.

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