Music Semantics: Problems and Prospects

This lecture explores the concept of music semantics, proposing a framework where music can convey meaning through inferences about external reality. It discusses the differences between compositional semantics in language and iconic semantics in music, focusing on auditory cognition and tonal pitch space. The lecture also delves into the use of iconic semantics in sign language and the interpretation of musical elements like harmony, melody, and loudness. Examples from music pieces, such as Strauss's Sunrise, are used to illustrate how different musical elements can trigger specific inferences. The lecture concludes by discussing the implications of defining a semantics for music and the potential interactions between musical syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.