The difference between various arts is rooted in the difference in material materials that constitute the art. Due to this difference, respective structural principles and expression methods have been formed to reflect real life and express thoughts and feelings. The differences in the expression methods of various arts result in different appreciation methods and aesthetic foundations for different arts. But there is also a connection between them. Below, music is compared with other arts so that we can focus on different periods and types of music, thereby deepening our understanding of music. 1. Comparison with Architecture Music is similar to architecture in terms of mathematical structure. Music is called "flowing architecture", while architecture is called "condensed music". Indeed, music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque in Europe was primarily architectural in conception (including European polyphony before Bach). “Both composers and architects use raw materials that do not express any meaning (simple sound in space and stones in space)” and follow the principles of “proportion, balance and symmetry”① to create auditory and visual Pure form. Some people regard polyphonic composers as architects of music. When appreciating this type of polyphonic music work, what you should pay attention to is not what the theme itself reflects, but the ingenious artistic combination of music and the perfect interweaving of theme, answers and counter questions. And we do feel that these polyphonic music works "have a pure formal beauty that does not attach any conditions and does not show any precise spiritual connotation." ②These works are rational in structure, and the feelings they give people are mainly formal. It can satisfy people's aesthetic requirements for formal harmony, just as people appreciate the formal beauty of architecture. 2. Comparison with literature Music, as a language, expresses people’s thoughts and feelings and reflects social life. Romantic "title music" is particularly prominent. It is based on literary and dramatic works, showing certain mood or emotional changes related to the original work, and some even have a certain plot character. Works such as Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Prelude "Romeo and Juliet" and Richard Strauss's Variations "Don Quixote" all fall into this category. The musical language mentioned here is fundamentally different from the language (text) we use every day. Musical sound, the artistic material that constitutes music, is just a simple sound without any meaning before it is composed of music. It is not like language or text, which has certain semantics and concepts. Literary works clearly express the specific content and thoughts and feelings of the work through the statement of these concepts and specific descriptions. Music has limitations at this point. It is said that Beethoven's "Eroica Symphony" was originally composed for Napoleon, whom he admired. Later, when Napoleon became emperor, Beethoven changed the title to "Eroica Symphony - composed in memory of a great figure." Today, when we listen to the "Eroica Symphony", what we experience is the noble and tragic heroic character. We did not expect that this song once represented Napoleon. It can be seen that music itself cannot clearly express a certain concept or a certain plot like literature and drama. It has an indeterminate and non-semantic character. It can only reflect social life indirectly through prompts from non-musical factors (titles, etc.). Even when appreciating music with clearly hinted plot titles, the music should not be required to fully express the content and plot of literature or drama. It only expresses an "atmosphere, artistic conception, especially the development and changes of the characters' emotions" related to the plot. ③ The violin concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" uses a dramatic sonata form in its structure to express the basic plot of the original work. After the soft and lyrical background overture, the solo violin played a simple and beautiful love theme; then when the violin and cello reciprocated, we can't help but think of the scene when Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai were sworn in Caoqiao; and When we hear the brass playing a violent theme symbolizing feudal power and the violin playing uneasy, painful chords with a strong syncopated rhythm, we will think of the storyline of forced marriage and resistance to marriage; finally, the flute and The harp brings us into a poetic and imaginative situation, while the violin re-plays the theme of love, depicting the artistic conception of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai turning into butterflies and dancing gracefully after their death. If we don’t know the title of the music in advance and don’t know the specific plot, who can guarantee that when the beautiful and affectionate theme appears, we will associate it with the abstract concept of love? Even if we feel the music unfolding and the weeping and reluctant emotions when Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai met on the balcony, who can guarantee that we must be thinking of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai and not others. Woolen cloth? Therefore, when appreciating this type of title music with strong plot elements, you should have an understanding of the subject matter and basic plot on which the music is based, so as to grasp the ideological content of the music. 3. Comparison with painting Painting uses lines, colors and other means to outline various visible images of people or objects to express the author's feelings. Due to the limitations of its means of expression (referring to the depiction of visual images and the expression of ideological concepts), music cannot directly express specific images in real life. However, the composer attempts to use descriptive musical means such as direct or indirect simulation, symbolism, and analogy of the sounds in nature, and then through the imagination and association of the audience to indirectly feel certain object images, creating a kind of visual appreciation. Art has a similar sense of beauty.

This situation mostly occurs in the appreciation of "music-picture style" title music (especially the works of the late Romantic, Impressionist and National music schools). For example: Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", through the artistic simulation of the buzzing sound of the wild bee when it flies, makes us seem to see the wild bee rising and falling in the air, far and near. Flying image. "The Swan" by French composer Saint-Sa?ns begins with the piano playing calm decomposed chords like rippling blue waves, and then the cello uses a stretched melody to depict the elegant posture of the swan floating with its head held high. At the same time, we also experience a sense of loneliness and sadness. emotion. In our country, this kind of "music-picture style" works are also common. The folk music "Birds Paying Attention to the Phoenix" depicts a colorful and vibrant morning scene by imitating the songs of various birds. The piano solo "Shepherd Boy Piccolo" is like a light ink painting, which makes people imagine the leisurely and happy situation of the shepherd boy. "This analogy between vision and hearing, for the creator, is to transform the color, shape, and line of objective things into sound, that is, to transform the visual image into an auditory image; for the appreciator, it is It is to transfer the musical sound obtained by hearing back into the visual image composed of color, shape and line." ④ Although this descriptive music expression method can arouse the audience's association with related life images and artistic conceptions, the image heard is not the image seen after all. The requirement for its performance object should be like appreciating our country's freehand brushwork. Painting like that requires it to be similar in spirit but not in form. 4. Comparison with Sculpture and Painting Music is a time art, and all its means of expression unfold in time. With the development of modern science and technology and the emergence of stereo music, music not only expresses the linear movement of music, but also an artistic space. The artistic effect it produces is comparable to sculpture in "three-dimensional space" art. At this point, it seems inaccurate to call music a time art. Sculpture works occupy and expand space through "the shaping of volume and the suggestion of movement." Its volume undoubtedly occupies space, but "this occupation is static and limited." ⑤The sculpture artist uses the unique expression means of this art to make the work (volume) show a kind of movement, thereby inducing and relying on people's spatial association to expand the space. This "movement's occupation of space is unlimited." ⑥The appreciation of stereo music is the opposite of sculpture. Music unfolds in motion in time. No matter how long the music is, the movement of the music is limited in the sense of time, but it is infinite in volume. Multi-channel stereo sound uses stereo orchestration methods, electronic synthesis timbre elements, and stereo recording technology to make us feel that in addition to the expressive function of the music itself, there is also a sense of moving volume. Although we cannot see or touch the size and shape of this volume, we feel that it is infinite. It "represents a four-dimensional space with the three dimensions of length, width, and height plus the scale of time." ⑦In such an art space, we can not only feel the beauty reflected in the movement of music in time, but also feel that there is a world of music around us. It can be seen that sculpture embodies a sense of movement and expands space through the shaping of volume; while stereo music expands space by expressing a moving volume. Of course, this only refers to the expansion space. Each sculptural or stereophonic piece of music, among other things, expresses and reflects its own content. In the process of music appreciation and aesthetic appreciation, one must understand and grasp the basic means of expression of music as well as the historical background, creative style, theme and genre of the music, in order to appreciate a musical work more comprehensively.

(Mass Art Museum, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province: Wang Yaming) Notes: ① Derrick Kirk, "Music Language" ② Tian Qing, "General Theory of Music" ③ ④ Zhang Qian, "Psychological Analysis of Music Appreciation" ⑤ ⑥ Yin Shuangxi, "Getting Life" Mystery" ⑦ Tao Zhilin, "Four-dimensional Space Aesthetics of Stereo Music"