Adorno's 'Philosophy of Modern Music': A critique

The activities of the Critical Theorists of the so-called Frankfort School led to work which exceeded the boundaries of various disciplines. The best work of these thinkers has led to an undermining of traditional academic divisions of labor, often transcending myopic views engendered by narrower perspectives. This synthesis of social theory, aesthetics, political and economic theory, philosophy, and science has developed views of human activity previously inaccessible to the various isolated disciplines. But this has led to certain problems. The critical theorists tend to develop generalizations which, because of the density of the complexes out of which they are drawn, may be less secure than the reaction some have to the seeming profundity of their pronouncements.;Through a careful delineation of the interrelatedness of the work and thinking of Arnold Schoenberg and Theodor Adorno, this dissertation demonstrates the negative side of Adorno's work. His over-reliance on theoretical premises of Schoenberg, over-enthusiasm for many things German, and inadequate penetration of the theoretical bases of Stravinsky's music are carefully examined. All of these led to serious failures of perception with regard to the music of both composers--but especially Stravinsky. The "immanent" critique of Adorno's assessment of Stravinsky developed herein demonstrates the failure of Adorno to appreciate the depth and meaning of the chasm he himself constructs between the two composers. In so doing this critique moves beyond Adorno by arguing that the work of Igor Stravinsky demands a more substantial conception of its meaning and providing the grounds upon which a larger conception of the work of Stravinsky can be built.