In the last 60 years, analytical philosophy has gradually and slowly developed a branch of philosophy called the ontology of musical work. The intention of this paper is to present some basic theories from ontology and the most basic questions and answers related to them.
What is a musical work? How does a musical work exist? What is a performance? In what relation do they stand with each other? Is a musical work independent of its performances, or are there only performances of it and that something as a musical work in itself does not exist? What role does the score play in all this? What does it mean to compose? The number of answers we can put forth to these few questions is already close to innumerable, but the vast majority stand right on the foundations of the early phase of the new philosophizing. The questions and answers about a musical work are the same as the ones about the music itself. Today the music may be as (un)clear as ever before, therefore talking about it may seem very banal. But no matter. From the history of philosophy we are already accustomed to the facts that in most cases, the most banal things are also the most difficult to explain. Let's give it a try. What is music?
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