On Voice, Song, and Imagination
Abstract
Abstract The relation between voice, song and imagination is at the heart of the work of many composers. This essay examines this relation by stipulating first that the voice is a way in which one is given an awareness of oneself. Subsequently, it is shown how this form of self-awareness reaches a higher degree through the voices resounding in music and finds its most sublime form when it is transformed into song. Therefore, the work of composers, as is illustrated in a discussion of Débussy, Mahler and Wagner, is concerned with finding one’s own style and song in a process of giving oneself over to the muses.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Musicology and Musical Analysis
Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Ethics
Aesthetics
and Art
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Research in Phenomenology
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5–13
- Publication date
- 4 February 2026
- Language
- EN