How and What do the Arts Mean?
Does Music Mean Anything?
Author and composer Anthony Burgess, best known for his 1962 novel, A Clockwork Orange, discusses the relationship between music and literature. Burgess studied music and language at Manchester University and served in the British Army as an education officer before beginning his writing career with his first novel, A Vision of Battlements, in 1949. In this lecture, he uses the piano to demonstrate the connection between music and literature, playing samples of various chords, intervals, and sequences. He discusses how he puts music into words and describing his approach of using music to relay what language “throws away.” This discussion concludes with audience questions.
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