The fundamental difference between music and the other arts lies in the fact
that music is experienced as if it reversed man’s normal psycho-epistemological
process.
The other arts create a physical object (i.e., an object perceived by man’s
senses, be it a book or a painting) and the psycho-epistemological process goes
from the perception of the object to the conceptual grasp of its meaning, to an
appraisal in terms of one’s basic values, to a consequent emotion. The pattern
is: from perception—to conceptual understanding—to appraisal—to emotion.
The pattern of the process involved in music is: from perception—to
emotion—to appraisal—to conceptual understanding.
Music is experienced as if it had the power to reach man’s emotions directly.