CONSEQUENCES OF THE INCREASING RATIONALITY OF MUSIC - A REASSESSMENT OF WEBERIAN RATIONALIZATION

Max Weber's theory of the rationalization of music is used to demonstrate that there is a nexus between the tonal structure of music, which is formally ''rational'' in the Weberian sense, and the fundamental irrational properties on which it rests. It is posited that Weber, although failing to differentiate between types of irrationality, was primarily concerned with only two forms: harmonic-structural and interpretational. Ironically, there is another more sociological type of irrationality that Weber failed to address. This type may be termed ''interactional'' irrationality. The importance of recognizing this element within the musical organization is critical, as the balance between rationality and irrationality becomes increasingly delicate. Case studies of professional, classically trained symphonic musicians and conductors illustrate the irrational consequences of growing rationality within the social organization of symphonic music.