RESEARCH ARTICLE
Susanne Lange on Music and Time
E an Gu e 1 and Inbal Gu e 2
1 Max S e n Yez eel Valley College, IL
2 Uni e si y o Hai a and he Buchmann-Meh a School o Music, Tel A i Uni e si y, IL
Co esponding au ho : E an Gu e (e ang@y c.ac.il)
Susanne Lange ’s idea o he p ima y appa i ion o music in ol es a dicho omy
be ween wo kinds o empo ali y: ‘ el ime’ and ‘clock ime’. Fo Lange , musi-
cal ime is exclusi ely el ime, and in his sense, music is ‘ ime made audible’.
Howe e , Lange also pos ula es a ‘s ong suspension hesis’: he swallowing up o
clock ime in he illusion o el ime. In his essay, we ake issue wi h he ‘s ong
suspension hesis’, i s philosophic ounda ion and i s implica ions. We a gue ha
his hesis is o e s a ed and misdi ec ing inso a as i pu po s o desc ibe wha
we expe ience when we hea music wi h unde s anding, and ha i es s on a con-
es ed p esupposi ion conce ning he concep ual p imacy o memo y- ime.
Keywo ds: Lange ; ime; music; memo y; onali y; Wi gens ein
Susanne Lange ’s philosophy o a e ains an endu ing appeal as a ho oughly sys ema ic,
beau i ully laid ou , o e a ching heo y o he a s. In pa icula wi h ega d o music, he
heo izing s ill s ands ou in i s bold, quin essen ially Roman ic ye clea -headed insis ence
on ela ing wha is meaning ul in music o o ganic i ali y. In his essay, we would like o
show ou indeb edness o Lange ’s ideas by c i ically add essing he iew o musical empo-
ali y, a p o ound opic ha has a ac ed su p isingly li le schola ly a en ion o e he las
six y- i e yea s.
The modes ou pu , p edominan ly w i en by musicologis s,1 ha has been dedica ed o
aspec s o Lange ’s iew o musical empo ali y conce ns he de ini ion o i uali y o illusion
pe aining o music, bu wi hou any a emp o o e a c i ique o he dicho omy be ween
i ual and eal ime as i unc ions in he heo y.2 O he s ha e ocused on he ea men o
hy hm, wi hou acknowledging ha Lange ’s o e emphasis on i al hy hm in his con ex
is a odds wi h he empo ally a iega ed s uc u e o ac ual hy hms in di e en musical
1
A a e excep ion is Philip Alpe son, ‘“Musical Time” and Music as “The A o Time”’, Jou nal o Aes he ics and A
C i icism 38 (1980): 407–18. We discuss Alpe son’s iew below. Robe Innis’s mo e ecen comp ehensi e s udy
o he de elopmen o Lange ’s philosophy also con ains some discussion o he iew conce ning musical ime.
See Robe E. Innis, Susanne Lange in Focus: The Symbolic Mind (Blooming on: Indiana Uni e si y P ess, 2009).
2
See Richa d No on, ‘Wha Is Vi uali y?’, Jou nal o Aes he ics and A C i icism 30 (1972): 499–505; Ma y J.
Reichlin, ‘Susanne Lange ’s Concep o Seconda y Illusion in Music and A ’, Jou nal o Aes he ic Educa ion 29
(1995): 39–51.
Gu e , E an and Inbal Gu e . ‘Susanne Lange on Music and Time.’
Es e ika: The Eu opean Jou nal o Aes he ics
LVIII/XIV, no. 1
(2021): pp. 35–56. DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.33134/eeja.195
ESTETIKA
THE EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AESTHETICS
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time36
con ex s and p ac ices.3 Some schola s seem o ha e adop ed Lange ’s ‘s ong suspension
hesis’ o clock ime unc i ically in o de o de i e om i a - eaching cul u al conclusions.4
In his essay, we ca e ully examine Lange ’s philosophical and musicological p esuppo-
si ions conce ning musical empo ali y and hei implica ions. In pa icula , we ake issue
wi h Lange ’s ‘s ong suspension hesis’ as i pe ains o musical empo ali y, ha is, he idea
ha clock ime is ca ego ically supp essed in he a is ic p oduc ion o music. We ind he
idea o e s a ed and misdi ec ing inso a as i pu po s o desc ibe wha we expe ience when
we hea music wi h unde s anding. Acco ding o Lange ’s heo y o musical hea ing, ‘wha
he audi o ough o hea [is] i ual mo emen , mo ion ha exis s only o he ea ’.5 Thus,
he ‘s ong suspension hesis’ implies a signi ican es ic ion on musical unde s anding and
musical meaning. Inso a as we can cons ue he meaning o music as wha e e we unde -
s and when we unde s and he music, musical meaning is, in Lange ’s iew, pa en ly asc ibed
o a p ima ily subjec -cen e ed mode o empo al e e ence – namely, wha she dubs ‘ el
ime’. We beg o di e . P o ound ideas may show hei me le by gi ing ise o deep p oblems,
which in u n may become conduci e o new and ui ul lines o in es iga ion.
We a e encou aged by Lange ’s own in i a ion o pick up he discussion o ideas con ained
in he wo k. In he in oduc ion o Feeling and Fo m, she w i es: ‘No hing in his essay […] is
inished, no could a heo y e e be inished. The e may be new a s in he u u e; he e
may su ely be new modes o any a ; […] his book, I ondly hope, is a beginning o some-
hing capable o inde ini e con inua ion.’6 The in e es in engaging in a c i ical dialogue wi h
Lange ’s ideas is u he ein o ced by he ac ha a he ime o he o iginal publica ion o
Feeling and Fo m in 1953, signi ican inno a ions in composi ional app oaches, heo ies and
pe o mance p ac ices had al eady aken cen e s age in he Eu opean a an -ga de scene,
as well as in Ame ican expe imen al music. The in e na ional semina s a Da ms ad began
in 1946, and by 1953, some o he mos no able, iconic music o he Da ms ad School had
been p esen ed. E en mo e s ikingly, he adical music o well-known, pionee ing Ame ican
compose s, such as Cha les I es, Edga d Va èse, Hen y Cowell, and he young John Cage, da e
back o he i s ou decades o he wen ie h cen u y. Cage’s g oundb eaking wo k Fi s
Cons uc ion in Me al da es back o 1939, and he p esen ed his no o ious piece 4’33” in 1952,
one yea be o e he publica ion o Lange ’s Feeling and Fo m. These new modes o music se i-
ously challenged Lange ’s heo y al eady du ing he li e ime.
Ou c i ical discussion p oceeds along h ee expanding ie s. Fi s , we unpack Lange ’s
dis inc ion be ween musical ma e ials and musical elemen s, which suppo s he ‘s ong
suspension hesis’. The gene al dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and elemen s in he a s uns
h oughou Lange ’s philosophy, bu when speci ically applied o onal music i exhibi s
some deeply sea ed misapp ehension on Lange ’s pa wi h espec o he e y idea o onal-
i y. In Sec ion I, we explain his di icul y in de ail and a gue ha he s enuous se ing apa
o ma e ials and elemen s in onal music, which unde lies Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis,
becomes e en mo e p onounced wi h espec o he discussion o musical ime. In Sec ion
II, we o e conc e e musical coun e examples, which palpably show ha he es ic ion on
musical unde s anding, which is implied by Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis ega ding clock
ime, is unwa an ed in bo h onal and non onal music.
3
See Felicia E. K use, ‘Vi al Rhy hm and Tempo al Fo m in Lange and Dewey’, Jou nal o Specula i e Philosophy
21 (2007): 16–26.
4
See Susan McCla y, ‘Rap, Minimalism, and S uc u es o Time in La e Twen ie h-Cen u y Cul u e’, in Audio Cul-
u e: Readings in Mode n Music, ed. Ch is oph Cox and Daniel Wa ne (New Yo k: Bloomsbu y, 2004), 289–98.
Ye Lange ’s ‘s ong suspension hesis’ o clock ime also d ew c i icism om wi hin musicological ci cles. See
Jona han D. K ame , The Time o Music (New Yo k: Schi me , 1988). We e e o K ame ’s iew below.
5
Susanne K. Lange , P oblems o A : Ten Philosophical Lec u es (New Yo k: Sc ibne , 1957), 38. He ea e : PA.
6
Susanne K. Lange , Feeling and Fo m (London: Rou ledge, 1953), xi–xii. He ea e : FF.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 37
Sec ion III consis s o he second ie o ou c i ique, whe e we u n o Lange ’s coun e -
pa heo ies o musical composi ion and musical pe o mance. We a gue ha hese heo ies
exhibi concep ual biases, which a e due o he s ong suspension hesis. These heo e i-
cal biases a e shown o be a odds wi h a ious musicological e idence and ac ual musical
p ac ices. In pa icula , we a gue ha he es ic ion on composing on he le el o ma e ials,
which is imposed by Lange ’s heo y o musical composi ion, ails o accoun o new modes
o music, which employ ex ended playing echniques.
In he hi d ie o ou c i ique (Sec ions IV and V), we o e a b oad philosophical ou -
look on, and a c i ique o , he concep ual p imacy o memo y- ime in Lange ’s philosophy
o music, which unde lies he s ong suspension hesis. Lange ’s eliance on he p imacy
o memo y- ime is ypical o a ene able philosophical adi ion, which ha ks back o
Augus ine’s celeb a ed accoun o ime in his Con essions. This memo y-based concep ion
o ime unde lies Augus ine’s celeb a ed s uggle wi h he majo apo ia o ime – namely, i s
measu emen , which is encompassed by he e en mo e undamen al apo ia o he being and
nonbeing o ime. We u n o Ludwig Wi gens ein’s sus ained c i icism o Augus ine’s con-
cep ion o ime as a subs ance, o a space, o mo ion, all o which a e in e nally expe ienced
and iden i ied. The eason o se ing Wi gens ein con a Lange in he p esen con ex is
qui e solid: Wi gens ein’s c i icism unde cu s concep ions o music (such as Lange ’s), which
exclusi ely ely on he amewo k o memo y- ime. In Sec ion VI we conclude wi h some
posi i e sugges ions.
I. Lange ’s S ong Suspension Thesis
In he books Feeling and Fo m and P oblems o A , Lange pu o wa d he idea ha he ealm
o music is cha ac e ized by he appea ance o mo emen . I is wha Lange calls he ‘p ima y
appa i ion’ o music, which is c ea ed whene e onal ma e ials bege a musical imp ession.
Such mo ion – which, Lange main ains, is bes cap u ed in Edua d Hanslick’s ph ase ‘sound-
ing o ms in mo ion’ – is he essence o music. I is he answe o he philosophical ques ion
‘Wha is music?’ This answe hinges upon a dis inc ion, which Lange makes, be ween he
ing edien s o ma e ials o music and he elemen s o music. In music, ma e ials a e ‘ac ual’:
‘sounds o a ce ain pi ch, loudness, o e one mix u e, and me onomic leng h’. Elemen s a e
always ‘ i ual’: ‘ igu es, mo ions, and wha we call “colo s”, “spaces”, ensions and esolu ions,
es ing ones, emp iness, beginnings and ends’ (PA, p. 39). The c ux o Lange ’s a gumen is
wha we p opose o call ‘a s ong suspension hesis’: ‘In a is ic p oduc ion, he compose ’s
ma e ials mus be comple ely swallowed up in he illusion hey c ea e, in which hence o h
we ind only illuso y elemen s, bu no – excep h ough echnical in e es and wo kmanlike
a en ion – he a angemen o ma e ials’ (ibid., ou emphasis). Le us look e y ca e ully a
Lange ’s dis inc ion in o de o be e app ecia e he impo o he ensuing hesis. Lange
wan s he dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and elemen s o be sha p; o he wise, he ensuing
suspension hesis will no be s ong enough o suppo he deside a um ha ‘i is [ i ual]
elemen s ha an a is composes in o an appa i ion, an exp essi e o m’, no ma e ials (PA,
p. 42). She ep imands hose who con use be ween ma e ials and elemen s. Such con usion,
she main ains,
is he c ux o mos di icul ies in a heo y, and e en he cause o some p ac ical
e o s ha a ise om supe icial heo y. As long as you hink o music in e ms o
a anged onal ma e ial, you a e idden wi h all he adi ional p oblems o wha o
allow o no o allow, o pu e and impu e music, hyb id a s, classical pa e ns and ee
combina ions, and so on. Bu as soon as you hink o i as mo ing onal o ms c ea -
ing an o ganic, pu ely i ual image o subjec i e ime in i s passage, hese p oblems
e apo a e. (PA, p. 39)
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time38
Be ha as i may, Lange ’s a emp o se ma e ials and elemen s sha ply apa om one
ano he in onal music is ma ed by wha appea s o be an innocuous equi oca ion in he
ex we jus quo ed, as she se s ‘a anged onal ma e ial’ agains ‘mo ing onal o ms’, bu is
ac ually indica i e o a much deepe p oblem.
The elemen s o music ( o example, ensions and esolu ions) a e supposed o be phenom-
enological objec s, objec s ha ha e he s a us o eme gen quali ies, oo ed in he ma e ial
wo ld, bu clea ly dis inc om i . Ye wi hin he ealm o onal music, he same se o p esup-
posi ions conce ning he g a i a ional o ces ha unde lie onali y in he i s place – he
p inciples o onal o ganiza ion, which enable he de elopmen o musical ideas in onal
composi ions – equally unde lies bo h ca ego ies, elemen s as well as ma e ials. Th oughou
he ‘common p ac ice e a’ (1600–1900), Wes e n music employed wo basic sys ems o pi ch
collec ion: he majo mode and he mino mode, consis ing o se en consecu i e pi ches
a anged in a s ep-wise o de . U ilizing hese pi ch collec ions in composi ion is clea ly no
es ic ed by he o de o pi ches in he gi en mode, bu a he by he o ganiza ion o he
pi ches a ound a cen al one, he i s pi ch o each mode. Thus, possible a angemen s
o such ma e ial necessa ily p esuppose onal hie a chy. In onal music, musical elemen s
(such as ensions and esolu ions, acco ding o Lange ) pa en ly p esuppose his e y onal
hie a chy. Tha is o say, he eme gen quali ies, which Lange a ibu es solely o elemen s,
mani es hemsel es al eady a he le el o he e y endency o op o his o ha pa icula
a angemen o ma e ials. As such, ma e ials a e no me ely ‘ac ual’, as Lange would ha e
i , bu p egnan wi h possibili ies and meaning. Al hough ma e ials may well be ‘sounds o
a ce ain pi ch’, one could de i e bo h onal and non onal o ganiza ion om he same pi ch
class. The di e ence lies in he onal hie a chy, which is p esupposed in he o me case, bu
no in he la e .7 Lange glosses o e his c ucial s ep.
One can palpably see his omission on a ious le els in Lange ’s inciden al discussions o
some o he own examples. On one occasion, Lange discusses ( ollowing E ns Toch) he
opening bass igu e in he i s mo emen o he second symphony by Johannes B ahms,
and i s ans o ma ions.8 Again, he e is an innocuous equi oca ion: she designa es a igu e
(a musical elemen , by he own s anda d) as ‘ma e ial’. This ma e ial, she main ains, ‘se es o
c ea e one elemen a e ano he – mo ion, suspension o mo ion, ecall, expec a ion, open-
ing, sus ainmen , closu e – wha you will’.9 Ye one canno conside ans o ma ions, o o he
means o de eloping igu es, wi hou concep ually elying on he p imacy o onal o ganiza-
ion (a he le el o he ma e ials). Fo ins ance, he elemen o closu e can be c ea ed only i
one uses ce ain pi ch ma e ial in a sui able a angemen , whose ela ion o he onic o he
piece can be clea ly ecognized.10
Lange ’s discussion o he o m o an o dina y musical scale is e en mo e e ealing.11
Lange does no make a clea dis inc ion be ween he no ion o a ‘scale’ and he no ion o a
‘mode’. A scale is a succession o s ep-wise pi ches. Ye e e ing o he pi ch collec ion o he
scale as a majo o mino mode means ha we ha e al eady assigned o he modes he capac-
i y o a key.12 Lange a gues ha any melody, whose pi ch sequence is no he same as ha
o he scale i sel , does no sha e he o m o he scale. Ye he compa ison o a collec ion o
7
This poin is made powe ully by A nold Schoenbe g in his discussion o he unc ional di e ence be ween a
cho d succession, which is aimless, and a cho d p og ession, which is goal-o ien ed. See A nold Schoenbe g,
S uc u al Func ions o Ha mony (New Yo k: No on, 1954), 1.
8
Susanne K. Lange , Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling, ol. 1 (Bal imo e: Johns Hopkins Uni e si y P ess, 1967), 201.
9
Ibid.
10 See A nold Schoenbe g, Theo y o Ha mony (Be keley: Uni e si y o Cali o nia P ess, 1978), 27.
11 Susanne K. Lange , An In oduc ion o Symbolic Logic, 3 d ed. (New Yo k: Do e , 1967), 25–26.
12 See Wal e Pis on, Ha mony, 5 h ed. (New Yo k: No on, 1987), 53.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 39
indi idual sounds qua melody and a collec ion o indi idual sounds qua mode is e oneous.
A mode is a pi ch e e ence. Tonali y, as a hie a chic sys em, enables endless combina ions
ha can accommoda e he modes.13 A mode canno be conside ed as some so o singula
melody. Lange ac ually commi s a ca ego y mis ake he e. A melody and a musical scale can
be said o be di e en o ms made o he same ma e ials only on pain o ailing o acknowl-
edge ha he mode al eady has he signi icance o a key.
Lange ’s con lic ing claims abou he na u e o he ma e ials o music bea signi ican ly
on he dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and elemen s in onal music. I musical elemen s a e
‘made o ha monic o melodic ma e ial’ (FF, p. 107), hen he dis inc ion be ween ma e ials
and elemen s becomes blu y a bes , and he ensuing suspension hesis becomes oo weak
o uphold Lange ’s own dec ee ha ‘i is [ i ual] elemen s ha an a is composes in o an
appa i ion, an exp essi e o m’, no ma e ials (PA, p. 42). On he o he hand, i he ma e ials
indeed a e no hing mo e han ‘ ones o such and such pi ch’ (FF, p. 107), ha is, conside ed in
hemsel es ine wi h espec o he g a i a ional o ces o onal hie a chy, hen he ensuing
suspension hesis is ende ed oo s ong o make he upwelling o ‘ he illusion bego en by
sound’ (ibid.), as Lange de ines music, easonably explicable om he an age poin o solid
music heo y. Because, o bo ow om Nelson Goodman’s ca chy e o conce ning he my h
o he innocen eye, he innocen ea is onally dea . Ul ima ely, Lange canno ha e i bo h
ways. In he las analysis, Lange would be ha d p essed o modi y he heo e ical deside a-
um – in e ec , loosening he es ic ion ha music is pu ely i ual, which is he pu po ed
upsho o he s ong suspension hesis.
The s enuous se ing apa o ma e ials and elemen s, which unde lies Lange ’s s ong
suspension hesis, becomes e en mo e p onounced wi h espec o he discussion o musical
ime. Acco ding o Lange , he essence o music inhe es solely in he expe ien ial ealm o
elemen s. She asse s ha ‘all music c ea es an o de o i ual ime, in which i s sono ous
o ms mo e in ela ion o each o he – always and only o each o he , o no hing else exis s
he e […] Music makes ime audible, and i s o m and con inui y sensible’ (FF, pp. 109–10; see
also PA, pp. 38, 41). Fo Lange , musical ime is ‘ el ime’ (PA, p. 37). I is li ed ime o expe i-
en ial ime, subjec -cen e ed, memo y-based, ho oughly pe spec i al and o ganic: a ealm o
ansi o iness i sel , o he specious p esen . I is en i ely pe cep ible h ough he agency o a
single sense – hea ing – hence i inhe es in a uni ied i ual space. I has a so o oluminous-
ness and complexi y akin o he passage o i al unc ions and li ed e en s:
[T]he passage o li e ha we eel as expec a ions become ‘now’, and ‘now’ u ns in o
unal e able ac . Such passage is measu able only in e ms o sensibili ies, ensions,
and emo ions; and i has no me ely a di e en measu e, bu an al oge he di e en
s uc u e om p ac ical o scien i ic ime. (FF, p. 109)
Acco ding o Lange , p ac ical o scien i ic ime is domina ed by ‘clock ime’, a ‘ ime con-
cep ’ o a one-dimensional in ini e succession o homogenous momen s, which we ha e
abs ac ed, she main ains, om di ec expe iences o ime (‘Time exis s o us because we
unde go ensions and hei esolu ions,’ she w i es). I is de oid o he expe ien ially p ime
aspec o passage and also o eeling. Clock ime is public and o dina y in he sense ha ‘i is
he only adequa e scheme we know o o synch onizing p ac ical a ai s, da ing pas e en s,
and cons uc ing some pe spec i e o u u e ones’. Fo Lange , clock ime is a discu si e sym-
bol: ‘ he way o he clock’ is ou way o hinking discu si ely abou ime a all (FF, pp. 111–12).
13 See Leona d B. Meye , Explaining Music: Essays and Explo a ions (Be keley: Uni e si y o Cali o nia P ess, 1973), 80.

Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time40
Philip Alpe son a gued ha Lange ’s conside a ion o music as he a o ime, in which he
compose exploi s ime as a o mal elemen , has led he o speak e oneously o musical ime
as being on ologically dis inc om o dina y ime.14 Acco ding o Alpe son, he impo ance
o he empo al o de ing o ones in musical pe cep ion p omp s Lange o pos ula e an
in insic, ideal ealm o ime peculia o musical pe cep ion. He a gues ha Lange ’s con en-
ion ha musical ime is he image o ‘li ed’ o ‘expe ienced’ ime ul ima ely ails o designa e
a special kind o ime c ea ed in music and somehow on ologically di e en om any o he
so o pe cei ed empo al ela ion. He a gues ha al hough musical expe ience does in ac
gi e ise o a speci ic class o ensions, his in i sel is no enough o dis inguish musical ime
as on ologically di e en om wha Lange calls ‘subjec i e ime’. Simila ly, Lange ’s b and-
ing o musical ime as a ‘semblance’ does no help. Because bo h musical ime and subjec i e
ime a e (Alpe son a gues) eme gen quali ies ha a ise in he pe cep ion o ensions and
esolu ions, hence bo h ‘ imes’ a e equally ‘ i ual’. Finally, he ac ha a sequence o musical
e en s is composable and epea able as opposed o sequences o e en s in he na u al wo ld,
is a dis inc ion ha pe ains p ima ily o he manne o p oduc ion o musical e en s and o a
di e ence in he deg ee o sub le y o disc imina ion ypically elici ed by hose e en s, a he
han o a di e ence in he kind o empo al expe ience.
Alpe son’s gene al conclusion ha he empo al dimension o musical expe ience is no
undamen ally di e en om ha o any o he so o empo al expe ience, may well be ue.
Howe e , he seems o ha e misdiagnosed he p oblems wi h Lange ’s heo izing abou musi-
cal ime. He insis s on eading Lange ’s con en ion ha ‘all music c ea es an o de o i ual
ime’ as i i designa es a special kind o ime c ea ed in music, on ologically di e en om
any o he so o pe cei ed empo al ela ion. Hence, his a gumen hinges upon Lange ’s
alleged ailu e o se he on ological s a us o musical ime apa om ha o subjec i e
ime. Al hough Lange ’s language s ongly ends o ei y musical ime as she ollows h ough
he dis inc ion be ween he ma e ials and he elemen s o music ( o example, she says ha
musical ime is he ‘ e y s u ’ o he p ima y illusion o music; PA, p. 41), she does no seem
o be making any me aphysical claims abou a special kind o ime c ea ed in he elemen al
appa i ion o music. The o de o i ual ime is no a di e en kind o ime, bu a he he
concep ual amewo k o he o de ing o musical e en s in he a is ic p oduc ion o music.
Alpe son acknowledges ha he di e ence be ween musical ime and subjec i e ime lies
no only in he di e en class o ensions and esolu ions, which gi e ise o musical em-
po ali y, bu also in wha he calls he ‘nego iabili y’ o musical o ms, ha is, in he manne
o p oduc ion o musical e en s and in he deg ee o sub le y o disc imina ion ypically
elici ed by hose e en s. Indeed, all his does no amoun o a di e ence in he kind o em-
po al expe ience. Bu ha , we main ain, is no he poin . Alpe son glosses o e he ac ha
Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis (acco ding o which he o de o i ual ime is c ea ed as
he compose ’s ma e ials a e comple ely swallowed up in he illusion hey c ea e) speci ically
add esses he a is ic p oduc ion o music, no me ely he pe cep ion o musical e en s.
On he pa , Lange igh ly obse es ha musical ime is condi ioned upon he appea ance
o mo ion. Ye , wi h espec o he manne o p oduc ion o musical e en s in onal music,
musical mo ion is enabled by a mul ile el s uc u ing o h ee ace s: a hie a chy o onal
ma e ials, hy hmic g ouping and pa e ning, and a sense o closu e. Al hough he onal
ma e ials p o ide pi ch hie a chy, he hy hmic g ouping and pa e ning o hese onal ma e-
ials bo h o ganize and egula e hei low in o musical e en s, he eby c ea ing addi ional
hie a chic laye s. The coo dina ion o pi ch and hy hm enables punc ua ion, which gi es ise
14 Alpe son, ‘“Musical Time” and Music’.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 41
o a sense o closu e. Thus, no su p isingly, Lange ’s explica ion o musical ime in e ms o
mo ing sono ous o ms exhibi s he same gene al p oblem as he dis inc ion be ween ma e-
ials and elemen s in onal music, which we expounded abo e. The dis inc ion she makes
is ei he oo-sha p o else no -sha p-enough o ende musical ime, he p ima y illusion o
music, easonably explicable as a pu ely elemen al appa i ion om he an age poin o solid
music heo y.
Alpe son also glosses o e he ac ha , upon in oducing he no ion o he o de o i -
ual ime, Lange speci ically se s i ual ime apa no om subjec i e ime, bu om ‘ he
sequence o ac ual happenings’ (FF, p. 109), ha is, om he o de o clock ime. This is ac u-
ally he mos signi ican con as in Lange ’s heo y, and he mos oublesome, in ou iew.
Acco ding o Lange , al hough clock ime pe ains o he ‘sequence o ac ual happenings’,
musical ime pe ains o sono ous o ms, which mo e in ela ion o each o he . She w i es:
‘This i ual ime, which is an image no o clock- ime, bu o li ed ime, is he p ima y illu-
sion o music’ (PA, p. 41). Mo eo e , she main ains, musical ime is ‘some hing adically di e -
en om he ime in which ou public and p ac ical li e p oceeds. I is incommensu able wi h
he p og ess o common a ai s’ (FF, p. 109). Mos signi ican o ou discussion in he ollow-
ing sec ions, she also con ends ha clock ime has been abs ac ed om el ime, hence el
ime is concep ually p io o clock ime.
Lange ’s upsho conce ning he di e ence be ween musical ime and clock ime is cap u ed
in a quo a ion om Basil de Selincou ’s a icle ‘Music and Du a ion’, which she empha ically
in oduces in o he discussion: ‘Music is one o he o ms o du a ion; i suspends o dina y
ime, and o e s i sel as an ideal subs i u e and equi alen ’ (quo ed in FF, p. 110). Le us
ca e ully eph ase Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis conce ning musical empo ali y in he
own wo ds. Lange ’s con as be ween i ual ime and clock ime is cap u ed in he own
dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and elemen s as pe aining o musical ime. Among ma e ials,
she names ‘me onomic leng h’, which clea ly bespeaks ‘ he way o he clock’, while ‘ he ele-
men s o music a e mo ing o ms o sound; bu in he mo ion no hing is emo ed’. Acco ding
o Lange , hen, in he a is ic p oduc ion o music, which co e s he wo k o he pe o me
wi h i s unde lying p ima y ac i i y o musical hea ing (FF, pp. 135, 148), clock ime is com-
ple ely swallowed up in he illusion o i ual o el ime, which i c ea es. Hence, we ind
in he music only illuso y elemen s o i ual ime ( ha is, sono ous o ms ha mo e always
and only in ela ion o each o he , o no hing else exis s he e), bu no he a angemen o
me onomic leng hs (excep h ough echnical in e es and wo kmanlike a en ion).
As i s ands, Lange ’s idea ha clock ime is suspended is an exagge a ion. As Jona han
K ame poin s ou , ‘Lange is less han speci ic abou he ac ual mechanisms by which music
c ea es i ual ime and abou he eal na u e o a musical con inui y undamen ally di e en
om ha o absolu e ime.’15 This is la gely due o Lange ’s insis ence on a sha p dis inc ion
be ween ma e ials and elemen s wi hin he ealm o onal music, which, we ha e a gued, is
un enable in he ligh o he heo e ical deside a a. We su ely do no suspend clock ime as we
lis en o a musical wo k in he sense ha we emain awa e o app oxima ely how much ime
has elapsed in a ious sec ions o he wo k. O he wise, says K ame , ‘we could no pe cei e o
unde s and a wo k’s p opo ions’.16 Also, we su ely do no suspend clock ime as we pe o m
music, in pa icula when execu ing nonlinea empi, such as empo uba o. Acco ding o
Da id Eps ein, in a uba o pe o mance we ha e a d ama ic display o wo di e en sys ems
o ime con ol ope a ing simul aneously, as hey apidly become dis-synch onous and hus
15 K ame , Time o Music, 3.
16 Ibid., 7.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time42
in con lic only o ealign a he end o he ph ase.17 On he one hand, we ha e he me ic
con ol o he bea , which is p ecise and ch onome ical, and on he o he , we ha e he con-
o ed pulse ha leads us away om he egula bea and back. Tempo uba o makes sense
inasmuch as he musical con ou is pi ched agains he amewo k o clock ime.
Finally, Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis implies a signi ican es ic ion on musical unde -
s anding and musical meaning. Acco ding o Lange , ‘wha he audi o ough o hea [is]
i ual mo emen , mo ion ha exis s only o he ea ’ (PA, p. 38), hence, allegedly, clock ime
in i sel may no o m a pa o wha we unde s and in he music. Ye , as a ma e o ac , clock
ime e ains i s iden i y bo h wi hin and ou side he ealm o onali y. This is p ecisely whe e
he ea can s ill be innocen while onally awa e. In Sec ion II, we u n o a se o musical
examples ha e eal a gla ing lacuna in Lange ’s iew, as clock ime becomes in aluable o
ou musical unde s anding.
II. Musical Repe i ion as Coun e example
Lange ’s dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and elemen s elega es musical meaning s ic ly o
he ealm o elemen al appa i ion. She main ained ha his is wha we unde s and when we
unde s and music. The ‘s ong suspension hesis’ asse s ha in a is ic p oduc ion he com-
pose ’s ma e ials mus be comple ely swallowed up in he illusion hey c ea e. This es ic ion
ampli ies all ha is inhe en ly p oblema ic abou Lange ’s dis inc ion be ween ma e ials and
elemen s. We now u n o a s iking coun e example o he alleged supp ession o ma e i-
als in musical hea ing, which is, in Lange ’s iew, he p ima y musical ac i i y o which bo h
composi ion and pe o mance mus co espond (FF, pp. 147–48).
Some examples o musical epe i ion eminen ly show he limi a ions o Lange ’s ‘s ong
suspension hesis’, speci ically wi h ega d o musical empo ali y. The examples a e conc e e,
ye hey expose a lacuna in he way Lange desc ibes he p ima y musical expe ience, and
hey impinge on wha Lange akes o be he ‘p ima y appa i ion o music’, i s e y essence.
Since ea ly s ages in he e olu ion o music, epe i ion has se ed as a de ice o ex ending
a musical idea. Repe i ion may be exac o a ied; howe e , i s unc ion a ies in di e en
con ex s along he his o y o music.
Mediae al chan p o ides a mos s iking coun e example o Lange ’s iew o musical em-
po ali y by showing ha he iew canno accommoda e nonhie a chical musical en i on-
men s. In mediae al chan , appea ing in p e onal con ex s, a epe i i e eci ing one was used
as a he o ical de ice o elucida ing he ex . In he nonhie a chical en i onmen o such
modal music, he lis ene will no be able o pe cei e he di e en ia ion o musical e en s
necessa y o expe iencing in eg al (musical) ime, bu a he will expe ience he pe sis en
pulse o clock ime. The e is no elemen al appa i ion o behold he e.
Repe i ion in he common-p ac ice e a is acili a ed by a wide ange o de ices a ailable o
he compose , who is elying on he solid o ce enabled by onal o ganiza ion. The ‘codi ica-
ion’ o he onal o ganiza ion suppo s a ied de ices ha con ibu e o he ex ension o he
ge minal musical ideas. Howe e , in cases whe e excessi e epe i ions appea , an in e up ion
in he unc ional ou -s age onal cycle occu s. We can ind examples o his in se e al o he
keyboa d sona as by Domenico Sca la i ( o example, Sona a in B Mino L449 and Sona a in
D Mino L420). As a esul , he lis ene expe iences a ce ain ‘ eeze’ in he low o musical
e en s, leading o a de iciency in he p edic ion o e en s and a co esponding expe ience
o disp opo ion in he musical o ganiza ion. In such cases, he lis ene will no be able o
pe cei e a cohe en o ganiza ion. As excessi e epea s domina e he sound s eam, he me -
onomic pulse shines h ough he ex u e.
17 See Da id Eps ein, Shaping Time: Music, he B ain, and Pe o mance (New Yo k: Schi me Books, 1995), chap. 11.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 43
In wen ie h-cen u y music we ind many os ina o pa e ns, epe i i e cells and epe i i e
‘sound blocks’. Os ina o pa e ns a e ypical in neoclassical music o na ionalis ic music. An
example is he ‘augu s’ cho d in Igo S a insky’s Ri e o Sp ing o some o he pieces in Bela
Ba ok’s Mik okosmos. In such cases, he epe i i e os ina o o ms esul in long momen s o
pe sis en ‘blocks’ on he same bass no e. O en, hese blocks a e combined wi h an ac i e
hy hm ha c ea es a s ong sense o mo ion. Al hough mo ion is necessa y o he di e en-
ia ion o e en s, he lack o change in he bass line is ega ded as ‘pseudo mo ion’. In such
cases, he lis ene will expe ience di icul ies pe cei ing any di e en ia ion be ween e en s.
Mo eo e , in many cases, he epea ed blocks ac ually appea wi hou any b eaks a all. Thei
li ely hy hm encou ages he lis ene o become awa e o he pe sis en pulse, no o any
illuso y mo emen . Again, elemen al appa i ion cancels ou .
O he ele an examples appea in con empo a y minimalis music, which is cha ac e -
ized by educed musical con en and he consis en use o epe i i e pa e ns. In C by Te y
Riley in oduces i y- h ee sho musical ph ases; each ph ase may be epea ed an a bi a y
numbe o imes. Each musician may choose which ph ase o play, bu he playe s a e
encou aged o s a he ph ases a di e en imes. Al hough he melodic ph ases a e gi en,
he pe o mance ins uc ions call o signi ican eedom o he pe o me s. Howe e , i is
expec ed ha one o he musicians will play he no e C pe sis en ly wi h consis en eigh h
no es. This unc ions as he pulse. Due o he pe sis ence o pa e ns, unsynch onized ansi-
ions om one e en o he o he , and he lack o ha monic mo ion, he lis ene will ine i a-
bly all back on he pe sis ing pulse.
Wi h ega d o Lange ’s insis ence on he suspension o clock ime, he upsho o all hese
a ious cases o epe i ion is ha in he a is ic p oduc ion o music, ime in ol ing he speci-
ica ion o ime- e e ences by means o publicly obse able ch onology may become in alu-
able o musical unde s anding in a way ha Lange ’s heo y canno accommoda e: elemen al
appa i ion gi es way o ma e ial mani es a ion as we lis en o he music wi h unde s anding.
III. Aspec s o C ea ion and Pe o mance
Lange ’s s ong suspension hesis comes wi h wha she calls ‘coun e pa ’ heo ies: a heo y
o musical c ea ion, a heo y o musical pe o mance, and a heo y o musical (as agains
ac ual) hea ing (PA, p. 38).18 Lange ’s a ionale he e is qui e clea : o p esen a uni ied heo y.
Acco ding o Lange , his equi es aligning all aspec s o musical p oduc ion wi h wha she
akes o be he p ima y musical ac i i y: musical hea ing. ‘I music is indeed ime made audi-
ble,’ says Lange , ‘ hen ha is wha he audi o ough o hea : i ual mo emen , mo ion ha
exis s only o he ea ’ (ibid.). We ha e al eady challenged Lange ’s unde lying assump ions
o his heo y o musical hea ing in Sec ions I and II. Acco ding o Lange , he i s p inciple
in musical hea ing is he abili y ‘ o expe ience he p ima y illusion, o eel he consis en
mo emen and ecognize a once he commanding o m which makes his piece an in iolable
wo k’ (FF, p. 147). Also, ‘The musician lis ens o his own idea be o e he plays, be o e he w i es’
(FF, p. 148). Lange equi es ha all aspec s o musical p oduc ion should p oceed om inne
( el ) expe ience o ou e mani es a ion. Ye , p ecisely due o Lange ’s need o uni y he philo-
sophical heo y o music in such a way, he coun e pa heo ies o musical c ea ion and
musical pe o mance ea u e odd biases when iewed agains he backd op o ac ual musical
p ac ices as well as musicological insigh s. An unde s anding o hese biases gi es a ulle
pic u e o wha we ha e a gued so a is inhe en ly p oblema ic in Lange ’s s ong suspension
18 I is no ewo hy ha Lange op s o he wo d ‘coun e pa ’ in his con ex , which deno es he unc ional
sameness o he heo ies o musical hea ing, musical pe o mance and musical c ea ion, as hey pa ake in a
heo e ical uni y, a he han being p esen ed as me ely analogous.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time50
The second cha ac e is ic o hese heo ies is he ounda ional Augus inian idea ha musi-
cal low embodies he low o ime and ha he musical p esen con ains ime in some sense.
This en ails concep ualizing ime as a subs ance and also as a space. Acco ding o Augus ine,
he p esen momen lea es a kind o empo al space behind a e i s own disappea ance. This
is he eason, he hough , why i can be measu ed p esen ly as ha ing occu ed in he pas .
Lange ’s concep o ‘passage’, he sense o ansience, p ecisely cap u es no only he idea o
musical low bu also he spa ial idea o ‘ olume’. Acco ding o Lange , ‘[Music] c ea es an
image o ime measu ed by he mo ion o o ms ha seem o gi e i subs ance, ye a sub-
s ance ha consis s en i ely o sound, so i is ansi o iness i sel ’ (FF, p. 110).
This cha ac e is ic is o cou se in ull display in Husse l’s phenomenological discou se:
The sound is gi en; ha is, I am conscious o i as now, and I am so conscious o i ‘as
long as’ I am conscious o any o i s phases as now. Bu i any empo al phase (co e-
sponding o a empo al poin o he du a ion o he sound) is an ac ual now (wi h he
excep ion o he beginning poin ), hen I am conscious o a con inui y o phases as
‘be o e,’ and I am conscious o he whole in e al o he empo al du a ion om he
beginning-poin o he now-poin as an expi ed du a ion. […] A he end-poin , I am
conscious o his poin i sel as a now-poin and o he whole du a ion as expi ed. […]
‘Du ing’ his whole lux o consciousness, I am conscious o one and he same sound
as endu ing, as endu ing now.36
Le inson o e s a simila ou look: ‘Hea ing musical mo emen is necessa ily hea ing a sonic
en i y no all o which is sounding a any ins an , while a any ins an , one hea s he sound-
ing no es as belonging o a musical low, o as con ained wi hin a musical p ocess, o which
hey o m a pa .’37
The hi d cha ac e is ic is he unde s anding o he pa icula i y o exp ession as inhe ing
pa en ly in musical mo ion, which is concei ed as in e nal o he musical specious p esen .
This cha ac e is ic is undoub edly he hallma k o Lange ’s philosophy o music. Acco ding o
Lange , we hea he passage o ime in music as li ed e en s, el inwa dly as ‘ hey g ow om
a beginning o a poin o highes in ensi y, moun ing ei he s eadily o wi h a ying accel-
e a ion o a climax, hen dissol ing, o le ing go ab up ly in sudden de la ion, o me ging
wi h he ise o all o some o he , enc oaching ension’ (PA, pp. 37–38). Le inson sugges s
ha ‘basic [musical] exp essi eness, and so he basis o any u he exp essi eness i may
possess, comes a ailable o he lis ene ’ by means o wha he dubs ‘quasi-hea ing’.38 Le inson
de ines quasi-hea ing as ‘a p ocess in which conscious a en ion is ca ied o a small s e ch o
music su ounding he p esen momen , and which in ol es syn hesizing he e en s o such
a s e ch in o a cohe en low, inso a as possible’.39 Husse l is ela i ely ske chy wi h ega d
o musical exp ession, al hough i is clea in his heo y ha in he case o a musical one, ou
e en ions and p o en ions ame he one-phases no only as ‘pas one-phase’ and ‘ u u e
one-phase’, espec i ely, bu also as ones o ce ain quali ies.
V. Wi gens ein Con a Lange
We now app oach he inal ie o ou c i ique o Lange ’s iew o musical empo ali y, whe e
Lange ’s iew is shown o be in he g ip o a pic u e, o a ail ou sel es o Wi gens ein’s
amous locu ion. As we ha e seen in Sec ion IV, he pic u e is he Augus inian adi ion o
36 Husse l, Phenomenology o In e nal Time-Consciousness, 44–45.
37 Le inson, Music in he Momen , 15.
38 Ibid., 173.
39 Ibid., 15.

Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 51
ende ing music as an embodimen o memo y- ime. Augus ine’s concep ion o ime was
a ge ed by Ludwig Wi gens ein in his w i ings and lec u es in he 1930s. Wi gens ein aimed
o show ha wha gene a es he Augus inian endency o ei y memo y- ime, o ende i as a
subs ance o in spa ial e ms, including he e y idea o measu emen , is a se o alse analo-
gies, which only gene a e philosophical con usion. Augus ine himsel seems o ha e com-
mingled he e y di e en ways in which we measu e ime and space, as he concluded ha
we measu e he specious p esen in ou mind, as i he p esen is some objec in on o him.
Ul ima ely, Wi gens ein’s c i icism unde cu s concep ions o music, which exclusi ely ely on
he amewo k o memo y- ime.40 In his sense, we p opose o se Wi gens ein con a Lange .
Wi gens ein cu s o he co e o he a o emen ioned philosophies o music in his debunk-
ing o Augus ine’s con en ion ha he wo d ‘now’ is a speci ica ion o ime, a name o an
ins ance o ime, a eal punc i o m p esen , an ‘unal e able ac ’ in Lange ’s wo ds (FF, p. 109).
This idea is he sou ce o he necessi y o he p imacy o he concep ual amewo k o mem-
o y- ime. Acco ding o Wi gens ein, he e o is al eady con ained in Augus ine’s ini ial
ques ion ‘Wha is ime?’, which p esupposes ha in some sense ime is made o some ma e-
ial.41 Fo Wi gens ein, Augus ine’s o iginal puzzlemen conce ning he na u e o ime is a
p ime example o language being seduced by subs an i es as i uns agains i s own limi s.
Wi gens ein uses he ilm-s ip analogy in o de o ease ou his sense o limi o ou lan-
guage o ime.42 Wi gens ein sugges ed hinking abou he p esen expe ience as a pic u e
on a ilm-s ip. The e a e wo al e na i es he e: ei he o alk abou he p ojec ed image, o
else o alk abou he pic u e on he ilm-s ip i sel . In he la e case, he e a e o he clea ly
iden i iable pic u es p eceding and succeeding i on he s ip. Wi gens ein’s poin in his
analogy is ha he philosophical idea ha ‘p esen expe ience only is eal’ a ises om imagin-
ing e en s o pass be o e us like ilm in a p ojec o , o lan e n. When he image is he e and
seen, no o he image is he e and seen. Acco ding o Wi gens ein, he e a e modes o alking
abou p esen expe ience in which we can, and some imes ough o, dispense wi h he wo d
‘p esen ’, jus like we can some imes do wi hou he wo d ‘I’. In such con ex s ( o example,
when we canno speak o he p esen as opposed o pas and u u e), he wo d ‘p esen ’
seems o cancel ou simply because he e is no o he wo d, which could eplace i . In such
con ex , he wo d ‘p esen ’ does mean some hing bo de ing on some hing else, om which
i can be limi ed o . The upsho o he ilm-s ip analogy is his:
The p esen we a e alking abou he e is no he ame in he ilm eel ha is in on
o he p ojec o ’s lens a p ecisely his momen , as opposed o he ames be o e and
a e i , which ha e al eady been he e o a e ye o come; bu he pic u e on he
sc een which would illegi ima ely be called p esen , since ‘p esen ’ would no be used
he e o dis inguish i om pas and u u e. And so i is a meaningless epi he .43
Thus, he ex a agan idea o he p imacy o memo y- ime as ‘ he sou ce o ou cogni ion’
o e shadows ou mo e mundane no ion o memo y- ime as a me e o de ing o e en s. Bu
40 Fo a ho ough discussion o Wi gens ein’s posi ion and i s impo see E an Gu e , ‘Measu e o Measu e:
Wi gens ein’s C i ique o he Augus inian Pic u e o Music’, in Wi gens ein and he Limi s o Language, ed.
Hanne Appelq is (London: Rou ledge, 2019), 245–69.
41 Ludwig Wi gens ein, The Big Typesc ip : TS 213, ed. and ans. C. G an Luckha d and Maximilian A. E. Aue
(Ox o d: Blackwell, 2005), 522. Re e ences a e o he o iginal Ge man pagina ion.
42 See Ludwig Wi gens ein, Philosophical Rema ks, ed. Rush Rhees, ans. Raymond Ha g ea es and Roge Whi e
(New Yo k: Ba nes and Noble, 1975), 49–54; Wi gens ein: Lec u es, Camb idge 1930–1933; F om he No es o
G. E. Moo e, ed. Da id S e n, B ian Roge s, and Gab iel Ci on (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2016),
8:49–50; Big Typesc ip , 494–98, 518.
43 Wi gens ein, Philosophical Rema ks, 54.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time52
he o me d aws i s a ac ion om a me e simile. ‘I ’s jus we’ e used a simile,’ Wi gens ein
w o e, ‘and now he simile is y annizing us. In he language o he simile, I canno mo e
ou side o he simile. Wan ing o use he language o his simile o speak o memo y as he
sou ce o ou cogni ion, as he e i ica ion o ou p oposi ions, has o lead o nonsense.’44
Wi gens ein’s poin is ha we need o obse e a limi : we canno apply he concep o ime,
ha is, he syn ac ical ules as hey apply o physical nouns, o he wo ld o men al image y,
whe e one uses a adically di e en way o speaking. O cou se he wo d ‘measu emen ’ i sel
and i s ela ed s anda ds o exac ness and p ecision belong o he ocabula y o he physical
wo ld. O he anomalies ensue om saying ha we ha e pe cep ion in o he pas (as we do in
he amewo k o memo y- ime), he eby con adic ing e e y concep o physical ime.45 Also,
he idea o he specious p esen in i es us o ega d he u u e as p e o med in some sense.
This is also cha ac e is ic o Lange ’s heo y o musical c ea ion, which capi alizes on he
no ion o ‘commanding o m’, as we poin ed ou ea lie . Wi gens ein poin s ou ha ‘ he e is
a poin in saying u u e e en s a e p e- o med i i belongs o he essence o ime ha i does
no b eak o ’.46 Ye no b eaking o is cha ac e is ic o he amewo k o physical ime. The
p esen in memo y- ime is pa en ly slipping away om us.
Fu he mo e, he e y idea o he low o ime is also a p oduc o an unchecked analogy.
Wi gens ein w o e:
I is clea ha his ques ion [‘Whe e does he p esen go when i becomes pas ?’] mos
easily a ises i we a e p eoccupied wi h cases in which he e a e hings lowing by us –
as logs o wood loa down a i e . In such a case we can say he logs which ha e passed
us a e all down owa ds he le and he logs which will pass us a e all up owa ds
he igh . We hen use his si ua ion as a simile o all happenings in ime and e en
embody he simile in ou language, as we say ha ‘ he p esen e en passed by’ (a log
passed by), ‘ he u u e e en is o come’ (a log is o come). We alk abou he low o
e en s; bu also abou he low o ime – he i e on which he logs a el.47
The analogy seems o allu e us in o hinking o empo al e en s as ixed poin s o en i ies
coming owa ds us as we expec hem, passing us by as we expe ience hem, and hen low-
ing away om us as we emembe hem. We a e hen emp ed o hink no only ha we can
measu e, as i we e, he dis ance be ween hese e en s, bu also – as s ongly sugges ed by
he pic u e o he loa ing logs o wood – ha we can measu e he leng h o each e en .
The applicabili y o Wi gens ein’s c i ique o iews o musical empo ali y such as Lange ’s
is gi en s iking exp ession in he con ex o his conside a ion o C. D. B oad’s heo y o ou
awa eness o he empo al ex ensi y o he immedia e objec s o ou expe ience.48 B oad
a gued ha a a gi en ins an we a e di ec ly acquain ed wi h a empo ally ex ended sense
da um, which occupies a sho in e al o ime ‘s e ching’ in o he pas om ha ins an . He
also a gued ha he sensing in ol ed in ou expe ience o a long musical one and he au al
sense da um wi h which we a e acquain ed a e bo h con inuous. Thus, ou mode o iden i-
ica ion o he musical objec is, in he las analysis, o he ‘sea chligh ’ kind.49 The cons an
span o illumina ion o he sea chligh ( ep esen ing he span o he specious p esen ) mo es
44 Wi gens ein, Big Typesc ip , 518; comp. Philosophical Rema ks, 49.
45 Wi gens ein, Philosophical Rema ks, 50.
46 Ibid., 51.
47 Ludwig Wi gens ein, The Blue and B own Books: P elimina y S udies o he ‘Philosophical In es iga ions’
(New Yo k: Ha pe and Row, 1967), 107–8.
48 C. D. B oad, Scien i ic Though (London: Kegan Paul, 1923).
49 See J. D. Mabbo , ‘Ou Di ec Expe ience o Time’, Mind 60 (1951): 153–67.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time 53
con inuously pa allel o, and along, i s pos ula ed ‘ a ge ’ – he sense da um, in B oad’s case
– as i ‘illumina es’ i .
Again, Wi gens ein makes his cha ac e is ic mo e (in his middle pe iod), dis inguishing
be ween di e en kinds o logical o g amma ical ‘spaces’, poin ing ou analogies and dis-
analogies be ween hem, and s essing ha wha could be said o he concep s ha belong
o one such space could no meaning ully be said o concep s belonging o ano he space.
Wi gens ein’s poin he e is ha he wo d ‘con inui y’ belongs s ic ly o he ocabula y o
he physical wo ld. When we apply he physical no ion o con inui y o ou immedia e expe i-
ence o a musical one, we end up p ecisely wi h a ‘sea chligh ’ model o music. Acco ding o
Wi gens ein, his p esupposes he nonsensical idea ha he e is an in e media e s age in ou
expe ience in which we bo h hea and emembe .
The con usion lies in hinking ha physical sound and he sense-da um a e bo h con inu-
ous. The physical sound is con inuous, bu he sense-da um is no . The wo expe iences, hea -
ing and emembe ing, a e qui e dis inc . You can na ow down he poin be ween whe e you
inish hea ing and whe e you begin emembe ing, bu he e will be no poin a which you
can say ha you bo h hea and emembe .50 Wi gens ein makes i e y clea ha a no ion
o con inui y based on memo y- ime is nonsensical, and his esponse – appa en ly a di ec
ebu al o C. D. B oad’s posi ion – unde cu s he e y ounda ion o Lange ’s iew o musical
empo ali y: ‘Music makes ime audible, and i s o m and con inui y sensible’ (FF, p. 110).
VI. Back o ‘Ou Common Sense Ve sion o Time’
In conclusion, we would like o o e , albei b ie ly, a posi i e ou look o u he s udy. I
alls beyond he scope o his essay o conside he many aspec s o Wi gens ein’s emedy
o he philosophical puzzles gene a ed by insis ing on he concep ual p imacy o memo y-
ime.51 I su ices o say ha he sugges ed e e sing he Augus inian p io i ies. Acco ding o
Wi gens ein, wha is concep ually p io is a empo al o de in ol ing he speci ica ion o
ime- e e ences by means o public, obse able ch onology, which is implemen ed by means
o no only ch onome e s and calenda s, bu also documen s, dia ies, manusc ip s, and o he
modes o making eco ds o consul ing hem. Wi gens ein calls his amewo k ‘in o ma-
ion- ime’. Acco ding o Wi gens ein, in o ma ion- ime is ‘ he o de in which in o ma ion
is go by asking di e en people’.52 I is obse a ion ime,53 w i en ime,54 na a i e ime,55
ime o documen s,56 and his o ical ime.57 Mo e na owly i is also physical ime,58 ha is,
he ime o he ch onome e , o clock- ime, as Lange called i – he ealm in which musi-
cal epe i ion makes musical sense in some con ex s, as we ha e shown. I is he o de o
he ilm-s ip, in which ‘be o e’ and ‘a e ’ also spell ‘pas ’ and ‘ u u e’. ‘Wi h ou language,’
Wi gens ein w o e, ‘we ind ou sel es, so o speak, in he domain o he ilm, no o he
p ojec ed pic u e.’59 Wi gens ein’s emphasis on in o ma ion- ime is an a emp o esol e
philosophical conund ums pe aining o an exclusi e eliance on he o de o memo y- ime
50 Ludwig Wi gens ein, Wi gens ein’s Lec u es, Camb idge 1930–1932: F om he No es o John King and Desmond
Lee, ed. Desmond Lee (Ox o d: Blackwell, 1980), 71–72.
51 See he ull discussion in Gu e , ‘Measu e o Measu e’.
52 Ludwig Wi gens ein, Wi gens ein’s Lec u es, Camb idge 1932–1935: F om he No es o Alice Amb ose and
Ma ga e Macdonald, ed. Alice Amb ose (Ox o d: Blackwell, 1979), 15.
53 Wi gens ein, Wi gens ein’s Lec u es, Camb idge 1930–1933, 7:106.
54 Ibid., 8:64.
55 Ibid., 8:45.
56 Ibid., 8:49.
57 Wi gens ein, Big Typesc ip , 495.
58 Ibid., 495.
59 Wi gens ein, Philosophical Rema ks, 70.
Gu e and Gu e : Susanne Lange on Music and Time54
( o ins ance, empo al solipsism) by obse ing he a iega ed ac i i y o asking and ecei ing
in o ma ion.60
This kind o ‘in o ma ion- ime’ amewo k en ails wha Lange called ‘ou common sense
e sion o ime’, which, she main ains, is e en mo e composi e, he e ogeneous, and agmen-
a y han ou simila sense o space, and ce ainly no o ganized by, o uni ied in e ms o , a
single sense ( o wi , he sense o hea ing): ‘Inwa d ensions and ou wa d changes, hea bea s
and clocks, dayligh and ou ines and wea iness u nish a ious incohe en empo al da a […]’
(FF, p. 109). Whe he Lange ’s philosophy o music could accommoda e ‘ou common sense
e sion o ime’ as ounda ional o he desc ip ion o musical expe ience is a ques ion o
ano he s udy. In he ligh o he inal ie o ou c i ique o Lange ’s iew, we conclude ha
a e e sal o Augus inian p io i ies in Lange ’s philosophy o music – ha is, he deploymen
o a pe spec i al mode o empo al iden i ica ion om wi hin he public amewo k o ou
o dina y language – would equi e je isoning he ‘s ong suspension hesis’ a he e y leas .
As we ha e shown in Sec ions I–III o his essay, his hesis should independen ly be ejec ed
o o he easons as well.
Ye wha Lange ap ly called ‘ou common sense e sion o ime’ is none heless he ame-
wo k o all he many sub le ies o human ges u e in ac ual music making, he ime in which
music is played oge he , a he han expe ienced in he soli ude o one’s mind. Acco ding
o Wi gens ein, his amewo k a o ds he kind o ‘p o ocol’, so o speak, which gi es ise
o he ap ly collabo a i e ques o music making – always a obus ly embodied and si ua ed
p ac ice, o d awing in signi icance by means o he ph asing and eph asing o a passage
in o de o cha ac e ize i , enabling by means o such compa a i e in es iga ion meaning ul
dis inc ions be ween igh and w ong.61 This no ion o ‘p o ocol’ would pa icula ly challenge
he kind o sepa a ion be ween doing and expe iencing, which is he hallma k o Lange ’s
heo y o musical pe o mance as i s ands. The heo y would need o eo ien i sel owa ds
he enac men o musical expe ience. As Wi gens ein ondly quo ed om Goe he’s Faus ,
Pa I: ‘In he beginning was he deed.’62
Acknowledgemen s
Ea lie e sions o his essay we e p esen ed a he Ten h Annual Con e ence o he Eu opean
Socie y o Aes he ics, which was held a Alma Ma e Eu opaea, Ma ibo (Slo enia) in 2018,
and a he Se en h Con e ence o he Royal Musical Associa ion Music and Philosophy S udy
G oup, which was held a King’s College London in 2019.
Compe ing In e es s
The au ho s ha e no compe ing in e es s o decla e.
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Es e ika:
The Eu opean Jou nal o Aes he ics
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