Quotation in music has much in common with quotation in language. Analytical philosophy can offer some insight here. In Bach's Cantata BWV 158, 'Der Friede sei mit dir', we find an example of ‘musical quotation marks’.

00:00 Intro
00:35 I’ll hum it for you
04:00 Musical quotation
08:29 Use and mention
13:06 Quotation marks
17:33 Bach's Cantata 158
22:10 The third dimension

Music and sound fragments:
Casablanca (film). Ingrid Bergman, Dooley Wilson, Max Steiner. Warner Brothers 1943.
O. Respighi, Impressioni brasiliane. Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra. Fontana 1959?
J.S. Bach, Cantata BWV 158 Der Friede sei mit dir. Stephan MacLeod, Gli Angeli Genève. Cantatas for Bass. Claves 2022.

For more details and references, see Lodewijk Muns, ‘Musical Quotation and the ‘Use-Mention’ Distinction’, 2019, https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:28479/

Musical Quotation Marks 1: I’ll hum it for you

Lodewijk Muns, musicologist, composer and pianist, discusses topics such as music and memory, music and language, and the limits of music, with the piano at his fingertips.

Beyond the Bony Labyrinth: because the sound that enters our ears only becomes music when we recognize it. Music appeals to our memory, emotions, imagination, and capacity for language.

Philosophy: because it deals with the connections between music and other aspects of life, with clarification, and dispelling smoke screens.

This is the English version of the Dutch podcast Voorbij de oren.

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